Remember this day 4 years ago?

Huge Tornado Outbreak in the Plains:

This was the day (April 14, 2012) that we had roughly 25 tornadoes touch down in Kansas with the strongest (an EF 4) tornado that went just east of Kanopolis Lake. 

This was the severe weather outlook from Storm Prediction Center on the morning of April 14th, 2012

It all started with the first tornado watch coming down at roughly 10 a.m. that day. The first tornado warnings were actually up in northern Kansas around Phillipsburg and Smith Center.

Later that afternoon, more storms started developing through central and southwest Kansas. One of the first big tornadoes of the day went north of Lyons (Rice Co.) and tracked just east of Kanopolis Lake. It lifted just before getting to Salina. Here is a map that the tornado took (in purple).

tornado just east of Kanopolis Lake

More storms started developing and moving out of northern Oklahoma into south central Kansas late in the evening. The radar was showing debris down in Harper county with a tornado on the ground there. That was the storm that came very close to Clearwater on it's way into the Wichita area around 10 p.m. The National Weather Service in Wichita turned their duties over to Topeka so they could take cover. The Oaklawn community was hit by the tornado that had a path width of 1 mile and a path length of 13 miles. It received an EF3 rating. After leaving that area, the tornado continued on to do damage at Spirit Aerosystems, tearing the roof off some of the larger buildings there. 

tornado as it hit the Oaklawn community (courtesy Brandon Ivey)

Despite the widespread, severe weather that day, there were no fatalities in Kansas. Just an incredible day that most of us still haven't forgotten about.