Tornadoes · United States · Kansas · 2026

EF0 tornado, Lomax, Kansas, April 13, 2026

This EF0 tornado ran 0.0 miles across Osage County on April 13, 2026, touching down at 7:02 PM CDT. It killed nobody.

Preliminary. This is NWS TOP's damage survey, filed in the Damage Assessment Toolkit. The rating, the path and the casualties are the survey's and can change while it is revised. The Storm Prediction Center compiles the official record of 2026 from these surveys and publishes it in the spring of 2027; this page moves to that tornado's permanent address when it does.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. EF2111 to 135 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. EF3136 to 165 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. EF5over 200 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

The survey

Rating, as surveyed
EF0, preliminary
Date
April 13, 2026
Touchdown
7:02 PM CDT (00:02 UTC)
Lifted
7:03 PM CDT (00:03 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.0 miles (0.0 km)
Path width
0 yards (0 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Osage County
Touchdown point
38.591, -95.512
Lift-off point
38.591, -95.512
Surveyed by
NWS TOP
Survey last edited
April 14, 2026
Record number
None yet. SPC numbers 2026 in the spring of 2027.

The damage survey

37 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS TOP, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 125 mph.

  • Fence destroyed, thrown east 20-30 feet
  • Insulation splattered on south side of apartment complex
  • Numerous broken tree limbs throughout neighborhood.
  • Fence and several gazebo buildings destroyed

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

What the Weather Service recorded

Supercell thunderstorms developed along and east of a dryline across east central Kansas late afternoon on April 13th. The storms produced very large hail to the size of baseballs and also a strong tornado in Franklin County and a brief weak tornado in Osage County. 3 injuries were reported due to the Franklin County tornado none serious.

A storm chaser caught a small brief tornado on video. No damage was reported with this specific tornado in this location.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

The warnings

24 minutes of warning. NWS TOP issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:38 UTC, 24 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 23:35 UTC and running to 01:39 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
22:57 UTC00:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOP
23:35 UTC01:39 UTCTornado WatchTOP
23:38 UTC00:15 UTCTornado WarningTOP
23:51 UTC00:12 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOP
23:56 UTC00:31 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOP
23:58 UTC00:13 UTCTornado WarningTOP
00:08 UTC00:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOP
00:24 UTC01:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOP
00:49 UTC01:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOP
00:58 UTC01:12 UTCTornado WarningTOP
01:25 UTC05:30 UTCFlood WarningTOP

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The forecast that day

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 19:56 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The air that afternoon

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Topeka, KS (KTOP), 00:00Z

0.0 hours before the tornado, 47 km from the path. April 14, 2026.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 2026-04-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 2034 joules per kilogram, CIN -35, lifted condensation level 1542 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 2026-04-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 147 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 40 knots.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
2034 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-35 J/kg
Surface CAPE
3679 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1542 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
147 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
202 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
10.2
0-3 km lapse rate
8.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Topeka, KS (KTOP), 12:00Z

12.0 hours after it, 47 km from the path. April 14, 2026.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 2026-04-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1922 joules per kilogram, CIN -232, lifted condensation level 1110 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 2026-04-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 360 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 36 knots.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1922 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-232 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2999 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1110 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
360 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
361 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
4.6
0-3 km lapse rate
6.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 77 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:04 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

What was reported nearby

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
22:58 UTCHAIL 1.254 W ReadingLyon, KS
22:58 UTCHAIL 1.754 W ReadingLyon, KS
23:05 UTCHAIL 21 W ReadingLyon, KSReport from mPING: Hen Egg (2.00 in.).
23:30 UTCHAIL 25 S Osage CityOsage, KS
23:30 UTCHAIL 25 S Osage CityOsage, KS
23:32 UTCHAIL 1.251 S LyndonOsage, KS
23:35 UTCHAIL 1.25LyndonOsage, KS
00:07 UTCTORNADOQuenemoOsage, KSDelayed report. Storm chaser reported a tornado occurred just southwest of town. Was on the ground approximately two minutes and damaged a sheet metal shed.
00:10 UTCHAIL 22 W PomonaFranklin, KSHail was observed on the ground behind the storm.
00:15 UTCTORNADO3 Ene PomonaFranklin, KSSpotter confirmed he was seeing debris but is about 15 miles south so can not fully see the actual tornado.
00:30 UTCHAIL 21 Ssw OttawaFranklin, KSDelayed report of 2 inch hail stones across the street from Ottawa High School. Photos sent via email.
00:35 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 S OttawaFranklin, KSDamage to the roof and a wall of the T-Mobile store on South Main Street in Ottawa.
00:35 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 S OttawaFranklin, KSReports of damage in southern Ottawa, on Main Street between 15th and 23rd, including wall and rood damage to a hotel, roof damage and wall down at a gas station, roof removed from Daylight Donuts and trees down. No powe
00:38 UTCTORNADO1 N OttawaFranklin, KSobserved moving east.
00:42 UTCHAIL 2.751 N OttawaFranklin, KS
00:49 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Se EdgertonMiami, KSDowned wires near Waverly Road. Time estimated from radar.
01:18 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Ese EdgertonJohnson, KSDowned wires near Farm Lane. Time estimated from radar.
01:18 UTCTORNADO2 Sse HillsdaleMiami, KSPhoto shared of a tornado on the ground, looking northwest at the storm by a spotter.
01:18 UTCTORNADO2 Wnw HillsdaleMiami, KS*** 1 INJ *** Report resent for starting point and time of tornado. Shortly before 820 PM CDT on Monday April 13th, 2026, a supercell thunderstorm, that had previously resulted in an EF- 2 tornado in Ottawa, KS, strength
01:20 UTCTORNADO1 Wsw HillsdaleMiami, KS*** 1 INJ *** Shortly before 820 PM CDT on Monday April 13th, 2026, a supercell thunderstorm, that had previously resulted in an EF- 2 tornado in Ottawa, KS, strengthened and developed a second tornado just east of Hills
01:22 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 W Spring HillJohnson, KSDowned wires near 207th Street. Time estimated from radar.
01:23 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Nw Spring HillJohnson, KSDowned wires and power outages near Clare Road. Time estimated from radar.
01:24 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Wsw Spring HillMiami, KSDowned wires and power outages near 223rd Street. Time estimated from radar.
01:58 UTCTSTM WND DMG7 W HillsdaleMiami, KSDowned tree limbs and wires near 263rd Street. Time confirmed from radar.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2026 tornado in KansasEvery tornado in Kansas since 1950Warnings in force in Kansas nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 13, 2026

15 more have been surveyed in the United States that day, so far.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 135:38 PM CDTEF0Taylor, WI3.520
April 136:12 PM CDTUnratedWatonwan, MN0.725
April 136:15 PM CDTEF1Watonwan, MN8.5200
April 136:30 PM CDTUnratedO'Brien, IA0.925
April 136:47 PM CDTEF2Palo Alto, IA4.8450
April 136:47 PM CDTEF1Emmet, IA0.940
April 137:15 PM CDTEF1Faribault, MN4.550
April 137:23 PM CDTEF2Franklin, KS7.303
April 137:49 PM CDTEF0Clay, IA1.850
April 138:00 PM CDTEF1Linn, KS to MO23.802
April 138:05 PM CDTEF1Freeborn, MN2.7140
April 138:09 PM CDTUnratedLinn, KS0.60
April 138:18 PM CDTEF2Miami, KS3.02501
April 1312:44 AM CDTEF0Dodge, WI0.350
April 1312:45 AM CDTEF1Dane, WI5.975

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. A survey can be revised, so the rating, the path and the casualties can all still change.

Sources

NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit, the record the survey teams file from the damage, and NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports. Neither is the official database for 2026, which SPC publishes in the spring of 2027.