Tornadoes · United States · Kansas · 2026

EF0 tornado, Allen to Admire, Kansas, April 23, 2026

From Allen to Admire, this EF0 tornado ran 1.0 miles across Lyon County on April 23, 2026, touching down at 7:08 PM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. 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 23, 2026
Touchdown
7:08 PM CDT (00:08 UTC)
Lifted
7:14 PM CDT (00:14 UTC)
On the ground
6 minutes
Path length
1.0 miles (1.6 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Lyon County
Touchdown point
38.595, -96.157
Lift-off point
38.597, -96.139
Highest wind the damage implies
85 mph
Surveyed by
NWS TOP
Survey last edited
April 24, 2026
Record number
None yet. SPC numbers 2026 in the spring of 2027.

What the survey found

Confirmed with video evidence.

Written by NWS TOP in the NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit. A survey is revised as better evidence arrives.

The damage survey

13 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS TOP, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 110 mph.

  • Detached garage destroyed debris tossed southwest into cabin to the south
  • Detached garage destroyed debris tossed east southeast into cabin to the southeast
  • Another detached garage destroyed debris tossed east. Sill plate had bolts some without nuts or washers.
  • Appears the tree was lifted out of the ground and fell into cabin

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

Severe t-storms developed during the late afternoon into the evening of April 23rd. Large hail, damaging winds and a few tornadoes were documented. The strongest tornado damaged structures at lake kahola near the Morris and Chase County line. The other tornadoes were rated EF0 or EFU due to lack of documented damage.

A member of the public shared a video that appears to show a small tornado in a field. No damage was reported and the tornado appeared to last less than one minute.

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

The warnings

44 minutes of warning. NWS TOP issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:24 UTC, 44 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 19:05 UTC and running to 02:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
19:05 UTC02:00 UTCTornado WatchTOP
22:57 UTC23:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOP
23:24 UTC00:15 UTCTornado WarningTOP
00:01 UTC00:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOP
00:05 UTC00:45 UTCTornado WarningTOP
00:17 UTC00:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOP
00:26 UTC00:41 UTCTornado WarningTOP
00:43 UTC01:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOP
00:55 UTC01:17 UTCTornado 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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 19:45 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

0.1 hours before the tornado, 63 km from the path. April 24, 2026.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 2026-04-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1551 joules per kilogram, CIN -24, lifted condensation level 1022 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 2026-04-24The 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 203 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 29 knots.193958Sfc1 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
1551 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-24 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1352 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1022 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
203 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
228 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.3
Supercell composite
6.5
0-3 km lapse rate
6.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What was reported nearby

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

Time (UTC)ReportWhereCountyRemark
23:26 UTCTORNADO1 W DunlapMorris, KSConfirmed by photo on social media.
23:29 UTCTORNADO4 Sw DunlapMorris, KSTime estimated by radar. Delayed report from EM on at least 3 homes damaged near Lake Kahola from a tornado.
23:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Sw DunlapMorris, KSRoof blown off of home near Kahola Lake.
23:54 UTCTSTM WND GST 607 Wsw TopekaShawnee, KSdime size hail.
23:55 UTCHAIL 1.254 W TopekaShawnee, KSReport from mPING: Half Dollar (1.25 in.). Time estimated from radar data.
00:06 UTCTORNADO6 S AllenLyon, KSReport of tornado south of Admire on road L and 280. Relayed by Emergency Manager. Time Estimated radar.
00:24 UTCHAIL 19 Ne Matfield GreenChase, KSReport from mPING: Quarter (1.00 in.).
00:40 UTCTSTM WND GST 592 Ese PaulineShawnee, KSKFOE Topeka Regional Airport.
01:15 UTCHAIL 12 Sw MadisonGreenwood, KSRelayed via Eureka fire.
01:43 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Nne GridleyCoffey, KSDamage to an outbuilding.
01:45 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Ssw BurlingtonCoffey, KSBuilding lost its roof. Scattered tree damage elsewhere in Burlington. Time estimated from radar data.

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 23, 2026

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

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 231:46 PM CDTEF1Harrison, IA2.9500
April 234:52 PM CDTUnratedAudubon, IA0.110
April 235:34 PM CDTUnratedFremont, IA0.520
April 235:34 PM CDTEF0Fremont, IA1.880
April 236:03 PM CDTEF0Wabaunsee, KS3.330
April 236:04 PM CDTEF0Wabaunsee, KS0.50
April 236:17 PM CDTEF0Page, IA2.120
April 236:26 PM CDTEF1Morris, KS0.930
April 237:00 PM CDTEF1Kay, OK10.4400
April 237:07 PM CDTEF0Kay, OK0.40
April 237:15 PM CDTEF0Kay, OK2.950
April 237:20 PM CDTEF0Madison, IA1.420
April 237:58 PM CDTEF1Gentry, MO4.3100
April 238:11 PM CDTEF4Garfield, OK9.56001
April 238:42 PM CDTEF1Decatur, IA2.2150
April 238:57 PM CDTEF0Clay, MO1.775
April 239:11 PM CDTEF0Clay, MO1.550
April 239:11 PM CDTEF0Clay, MO1.1100
April 2312:14 AM CDTEF1Jasper, MO1.0200

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.