Tornadoes · United States · Kansas · 2026

EF1 tornado, Miami County, Kansas, April 26, 2026

This EF1 tornado ran 2.0 miles across Miami County on April 26, 2026, touching down at 4:20 PM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody.

Preliminary. This is NWS EAX's damage survey, filed in the Damage Assessment Toolkit as MiamiCo_0426. 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 mph

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

  2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

    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
EF1, preliminary
Date
April 26, 2026
Touchdown
4:20 PM CDT (21:20 UTC)
Lifted
4:25 PM CDT (21:25 UTC)
On the ground
5 minutes
Path length
2.0 miles (3.2 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Miami County
Touchdown point
38.681, -95.048
Lift-off point
38.685, -95.012
Highest wind the damage implies
93 mph
Surveyed by
NWS EAX
The office's name for it
MiamiCo_0426
Survey last edited
April 28, 2026
Record number
None yet. SPC numbers 2026 in the spring of 2027.

What the survey found

At 4:20 PM CDT on Sunday April 26, 2026, an EF 1 tornado developed within a severe line of thunderstorms in northwest Miami County Kansas. This tornado began near the intersection of Pleasant Valley Rd and W 247th Rd. This tornado ended near Indianapolis Rd around 4:25 PM CDT.

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

The damage survey

12 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS EAX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 93 mph.

  • 8 power poles replaced (cannot see old poles or what type of damage occurred)
  • Debris from barn tossed east

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

The warnings

0 minutes of warning. NWS EAX issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:20 UTC, 0 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:25 UTC and running to 22:36 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
17:10 UTC20:24 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchEAX
20:25 UTC22:36 UTCTornado WatchEAX
20:48 UTC21:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAX
21:20 UTC21:45 UTCTornado WarningEAX
21:29 UTC22:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAX
21:40 UTC22:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAX
21:55 UTC22:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAX
21:58 UTC22:10 UTCTornado WarningEAX
22:05 UTC01:15 UTCFlood AdvisoryEAX
00:00 UTC21:38 UTCFlood WatchEAX
02:12 UTC08:48 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchEAX

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 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 19:58 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), 12:00Z

9.3 hours before the tornado, 64 km from the path. April 26, 2026.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 2026-04-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 54 joules per kilogram, CIN -242, lifted condensation level 980 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 2026-04-26The 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 54 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 37 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
54 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-242 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
980 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
54 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
6 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Topeka, KS (KTOP), 00:00Z

2.7 hours after it, 64 km from the path. April 27, 2026.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 2026-04-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 99 joules per kilogram, CIN -92, lifted condensation level 644 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 2026-04-27The 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 236 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 49 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
99 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-92 J/kg
Surface CAPE
245 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
644 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
236 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
443 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.4
0-3 km lapse rate
5.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 68 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:22 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
20:34 UTCTSTM WND GST 60LyndonOsage, KS
20:44 UTCTSTM WND GST 504 E PomonaFranklin, KS
21:20 UTCTSTM WND DMG6 Ssw EdgertonMiami, KSHomes damaged and barn destroyed. Time estimated from radar.
21:20 UTCTORNADO6 Ssw EdgertonMiami, KSAt 4:20 PM CDT on Sunday April 26, 2026, an EF 1 tornado developed within a severe line of thunderstorms in northwest Miami County Kansas. This tornado began near the intersection of Pleasant Valley Rd and W 247th Rd. Th
21:29 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 W HillsdaleMiami, KSSeveral downed trees southwest of Hillsdale Lake. Time estimated from radar.
21:38 UTCTSTM WND GST 624 Nw PaolaMiami, KSPrivate weather sensor.
21:38 UTCTORNADO6 Sw ParkerLinn, KSShortly after 4:30 PM CDT on Sunday April 26th, an embedded circulation within a severe line of thunderstorms resulted in an EF 0 Tornado. This tornado started at 4:38 PM CDT southwest of Goodrich, KS and continued north
21:40 UTCTSTM WND GST 585 W HillsdaleMiami, KSReport via personal weather station.
21:56 UTCTSTM WND DMGBucyrusMiami, KSCorrects previous tstm wnd dmg report from Bucyrus. Downed trees and blown down fence at a residence near Bucyrus. Time estimated from radar.
21:59 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Nw Mound CityLinn, KSDowned wires and power outages near Delmont Drive. Time estimated from radar.
22:00 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Nw OsawatomieMiami, KSDowned wires and power outages near 319th Street. Time estimated from radar.
22:03 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Ese LouisburgMiami, KSDowned wires near Belleview Road. Time estimated from radar.
22:25 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 W HillsdaleMiami, KSDowned wires near 263rd Street. Time estimated 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 26, 2026

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

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 264:38 PM CDTEF0Linn, KS6.80
April 266:55 PM CDTEF1Montgomery, KS5.030
April 267:09 PM CDTEF2Montgomery, KS4.64001
April 267:57 PM CDTEF1Osage, OK1.4400
April 268:00 PM CDTUnratedOsage, OK0.30
April 268:42 PM CDTUnratedOsage, OK1.4100
April 268:57 PM CDTUnratedOsage, OK1.4100
April 269:33 PM CDTEF0Dallas, MO0.8100
April 269:43 PM CDTEF1Cherokee, KS4.4500

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.