Tornadoes · United States · Kansas · 2026

EF0 tornado, Johnson and Jackson counties, Kansas and Missouri, March 6, 2026

This EF0 tornado ran 7.9 miles across Johnson and Jackson counties on March 6, 2026, touching down at 11:34 PM CST and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody.

Preliminary. This is NWS EAX's damage survey, filed in the Damage Assessment Toolkit as Shawnee_Mar6. 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
March 6, 2026
Touchdown
11:34 PM CST (05:34 UTC)
Lifted
11:45 PM CST (05:45 UTC)
On the ground
11 minutes
Path length
7.9 miles (12.7 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Counties
Johnson and Jackson counties
Touchdown point
39.032, -94.737
Lift-off point
39.055, -94.594
Highest wind the damage implies
75 mph
Surveyed by
NWS EAX
The office's name for it
Shawnee_Mar6
Survey last edited
March 7, 2026
Record number
None yet. SPC numbers 2026 in the spring of 2027.

What the survey found

Shortly after 1130 PM CST on Friday 3/6/2026, an EF-0 tornado developed within a line of severe thunderstorms in northern Johnson County Kansas. The tornado started in northern Shawnee, KS moving east into portions of Merriam, KS and along and near the I-35 Corridor into Southern Wyandotte County Kansas before crossing the State Line into Kansas City, Missouri shortly after 11:40 PM CDT. The tornado ended shortly before Westport near Southwest Traficway around 11:45 PM CDT. The majority of damage was to trees with peak wind speed estimated around 75 MPH.

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

The damage survey

39 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS EAX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 75 mph.

  • Older tree, root system has rot.
  • Trunk of tree showed signs of rot

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 02:18 UTC and running to 06:46 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
02:18 UTC06:46 UTCTornado WatchEAX
04:44 UTC05:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAX
05:26 UTC06:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAX
05:35 UTC06:00 UTCTornado WarningEAX

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 01:06 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

5.6 hours before the tornado, 84 km from the path. March 7, 2026.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 2026-03-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 981 joules per kilogram, CIN -2, lifted condensation level 550 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 2026-03-07The 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 281 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 58 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
981 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Surface CAPE
849 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
550 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
58 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
281 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
290 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.7
Supercell composite
6.2
0-3 km lapse rate
5.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Topeka, KS (KTOP), 12:00Z

6.4 hours after it, 84 km from the path. March 7, 2026.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 2026-03-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 3 joules per kilogram, CIN 0, lifted condensation level 486 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 2026-03-07The 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 -76 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 69 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 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
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Surface CAPE
5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
486 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
69 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-76 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-68 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
0.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 43 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 05:33 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
05:34 UTCTORNADO2 Ese Lake QuiviraJohnson, KSNWS Damage Survey found evidence of a 7.9 mile long EF-0 tornado that began in Shawnee, crossing the state line into Missouri, and ending shortly before reaching Westport.
05:38 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 E MerriamJohnson, KSPower flashes in Merriam.
05:39 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Nnw MerriamJohnson, KSReports of trees and power lines down. Time estimated from radar.
05:43 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Ssw Kansas CityJackson, MOPictures of downed trees on social media near and south of 39th St. Time estimated from radar.
05:45 UTCTSTM WND GST 604 Ssw Kansas CityJackson, MOEstimated 60 mph wind gusts in West Plaza.
06:01 UTCTSTM WND DMGLake TapawingoJackson, MOCorrects time previous tstm wnd dmg report from Lake Tapawingo. KMBC TV photographer found downed power lines near Lake Tapawingo. Time estimated from radar.
07:01 UTCTSTM WND DMGLake TapawingoJackson, MOKMBC TV photographer found downed power lines near Lake Tapawingo. 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 March 6, 2026

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

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 63:09 PM ESTEF1Cass, MI13.43501
March 63:47 PM ESTEF2Saint Joseph, MI12.445010
March 64:33 PM ESTEF3Branch, MI4.5500312
March 64:58 PM ESTEF0Calhoun, MI2.5125
March 65:18 PM CSTEF1Creek, OK6.2270
March 66:24 PM CSTEF1Osage, OK6.0600
March 66:38 PM CSTEF0Okfuskee, OK5.0160
March 66:38 PM CSTEF1Tulsa, OK2.0180
March 66:55 PM CSTEF2Rogers, OK4.7150
March 67:17 PM CSTEF3Okmulgee, OK6.895022
March 68:03 PM CSTEF0Wagoner, OK1.4130
March 68:05 PM CSTEF1Wagoner, OK1.6300
March 68:24 PM CSTUnratedRogers, OK1.4150
March 68:29 PM CSTEF1Rogers, OK6.6350
March 69:55 PM CSTUnratedDelaware, OK0.5100

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.