Monday, May 14, 2007

Tornado Tracks

I had a request to post the tornado tracks from the storms on Friday, May 4th. The 1st map attached to this entry shows only Kiowa county, but there were 3 different tornadoes that touched down throughout the county. The one that hit Greensburg was at one time 1.7 miles wide while an additional tornado developed just east of town. It was 2 miles wide at one point and moved northeast through the northeast part of the county.

One thing to notice about the Greensburg tornado is how it curled around to the northwest at the end of its life cycle. This is why we stress to never try and outrun a tornado. They can change direction in a very short amount of time and could catch you off gaurd if you are in a vehicle. The second map that I have attached here is from the Wichita National Weather Service and it shows the tornado tracks over central Kansas from May 4th and 5th. The strongest tornadoes did some EF1 damage in several different areas and in different counties.
Clean up continues in many different areas of Kansas from tornadoes and flood waters and fortunately the weather looks quiet for most of the week. (Click on the maps to see them in a larger format.)

2 comments:

distimpson said...

thank you Ross, I thought sure there where more small side tornados next to the EF5, but maybe they didn't get to the ground and you could only see things with the flashes of lightning. My camera could not get a picture even with nightshot, best wishes, Don

Anonymous said...

Ross, I am a farmer in N W Harvey and had a very good look at the Hesston tornado which was a F5, what was the difference between that one and the Greensberg EF5? Phil Lohrenz littleark@mtelco.net

Blog History