Monthly Archives: June 2008

Tornado damage at Kansas State

June 12, 20086:31 p.m.

Mike Smith sent us photos of the damage at K-State, which is estimated to be at least $20 million.

Tornado damage at K-State. Courtesy of WeatherData Services Inc., Mike Smith. (c) 2008 Michael R. Smith.

Tornado damage at K-State. Courtesy of WeatherData Services Inc., Mike Smith. (c) 2008 Michael R. Smith.

Tornado damage at K-State. Courtesy of WeatherData Services Inc., Mike Smith. (c) 2008 Michael R. Smith.

Tornado damage at K-State. Courtesy of WeatherData Services Inc., Mike Smith. (c) 2008 Michael R. Smith.

Tornado damage at K-State. Courtesy of WeatherData Services Inc., Mike Smith. (c) 2008 Michael R. Smith.

Tornado damage at K-State. Courtesy of WeatherData Services Inc., Mike Smith. (c) 2008 Michael R. Smith.

Tornado damage at K-State. Courtesy of WeatherData Services Inc., Mike Smith. (c) 2008 Michael R. Smith.

Tornado damage at K-State. Courtesy of WeatherData Services Inc., Mike Smith. (c) 2008 Michael R. Smith.

Tornado damage at K-State. Courtesy of WeatherData Services Inc., Mike Smith. (c) 2008 Michael R. Smith.

All photos courtesy of WeatherData Services Inc., Mike Smith. (c) 2008 Michael R. Smith.

By Stan Finger | Filed under Tornadoes | Comments Off

More damage photos from Manhattan

June 12, 20086:16 p.m.

Photographer Chris Hsieh in Manhattan has shot numerous photos of the tornado damage in the city. You can access them through his La Brisa Photography web site.

By Stan Finger | Filed under Tornadoes | Comments Off

Manhattan tornado rated EF4

June 12, 20086:09 p.m.

A damage assessment team from The National Weather Service office in Topeka has rated the tornado that struck Manhattan as an EF4, with winds between 166 and 200 miles an hour.

The tornado was 1/4-mile wide at its strongest point at the intersection of Peachtree Circle and Amherst Avenue, the weather service reported. The tornado touched down at 10:48 p.m. southwest of the city, churned northeast through the city and lifted on the northeast edge of town at 11:03 p.m.

Remarkably, no serious injuries were reported in Manhattan.

Track of Manhattan tornado Wednesday night

By Stan Finger | Filed under Tornadoes | Comments Off

Salina tornado classified an EF3

June 12, 20085:09 p.m.

Speculation that damage in Salina Wednesday night was caused by straight-line winds can be shelved: a damage assessment survey by the National Weather Service determined that the city was hit by an EF3 tornado that touched down just west of I-135 and just south of the Salina Airport at about 9:40 p.m.

The tornado moved northeast along the southeast outskirts of Salina, damaging several homes, outbuildings, trees and power lines. Damage near the intersection of East Shilling Road and South Holmes Road was rated EF3, meaning the tornado had winds of between 136 and 165 miles an hour.

The tornado continued east of Salina, inflicting EF2 damage near Crawford Street and Whitmore Road. The tornado eventually crossed into Dickinson County, just south of Solomon, before dissipating.

By Stan Finger | Filed under Tornadoes | Comments Off

Ulrich hosts book signing for local storm chaser and photographer

June 12, 200812:52 p.m.

Jim Reed, a Wichita-based storm chaser and weather photographer, will discuss his latest book, “Storm Chaser: A Photographer’s Journey,” tonight at the Ulrich Museum of Art on the Wichita State University campus.

The presentation begins at 6 p.m. and will include a discussion on storm chasing, extreme weather photography, media coverage of severe weather, and this year’s record-setting tornado season.

The program is free. To learn more about the show, call 316-978-3664 or e-mail the museum at ulrich@wichita.edu

Of course, there’s a caveat: if severe weather threatens the area, the show may be postponed so Jim can chase the storms.

By Stan Finger | Filed under Uncategorized | Comments Off

Tornado risk for Wichita area can’t be ignored today

June 12, 20089:39 a.m.

The Storm Prediction Center has only a slight risk for severe weather in south-central Kansas today, but forecasters indicate there’s a 10% chance of tornadoes in the southeast corner of the state – essentially from Wichita east.

By comparison, the SPC had listed a 15% chance of tornadoes for north-central Kansas Wednesday night. Salina, Chapman, Manhattan and other parts of the region are sifting through the rubble and tending to numerous victims this morning.

The National Weather Service in Wichita reports that large hail and damaging winds are the primary threat today, but it would seem wise to be alert to the possibility of tornadoes as well. The SPC reports that ingredients will be in place to support tornadoes later tonight.

By Stan Finger | Filed under Tornadoes | Comments Off

Salina, Chapman and Manhattan sort through tornado rubble

June 12, 20089:18 a.m.

As residents and authorities of several north-central Kansas towns begin to sort through the considerable damage wrought by tornadoes Wednesday night, National Weather Service damage survey teams are converging on the stricken areas.

Chance Hayes, warning coordination meteorologist for the Wichita branch of the National Weather Service, has already left for Salina, where several buildings were damaged or destroyed. There are conflicting reports about whether the damage was caused by a tornado or straight-line winds.

No such confusion exists about the damage at Chapman, Manhattan or near Soldier. Meteorologists from the NWS Topeka office will be studying the damage in Manhattan, Chapman and surrounding areas.

The Storm Prediction Center cataloged 52 reports of tornadoes Thursday night in Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota and Iowa – 21 of them in Kansas.

Hail the size of softballs killed several cattle near Ellsworth, meteorologist Leon Wasinger said.
Stones of that size could kill animals (even people) outright.

What happens most often in such cases, Wasinger said, is that the cattle are so badly battered by the hail stones that their owners decide to put them down. The livestock toll can be high in such circumstances, because cattle left outdoors tend to clump together against stormy weather to protect themselves and each other.

By Stan Finger | Filed under Thunderstorms, Tornadoes | Comments Off

Governor declares drought warnings? In Kansas? This spring???

June 11, 20083:40 p.m.

It’s no practical joke. While parts of Kansas have seen record-setting rainfall, other areas of the state are parched. The U.S. Drought Monitor has far southwest Kansas in “abnormally dry” to “extreme drought” conditions.

The governor’s declaration places drought warnings on Grant, Hamilton, Morton, Stanton and Stevens counties in southwest Kansas. Finney, Greeley, Haskell, Kearney, Meade, Scott, Seward and Wichita counties in western Kansas have been placed under drought watches.

The declaration comes even as much of the rest of the state grapples with saturated soils and reservoirs so full they’re flooding camp sites. Toronto, Fall River and Elk City state parks all have numerous camp sites under water, and Cheney, El Dorado and Kanopolis remain above conservation pool.

Wichita logged 13.14 inches of rain last month, nearly two inches above the previous record. The city remains more than 8 inches above normal for this time of year.

“That’s the way it works,” state parks director Jerry Hover said from Pratt. “Some parts of the state got way too much” rain, while others have been left out almost completely.

“If we could pump some of the excess water out west, everything would work out just right,” he said.

Alas, it doesn’t work that way.

See Thursday’s Eagle for more.

By Stan Finger | Filed under Flooding, Rain | Comments (1)

Storm chasers heading north for severe weather

June 11, 20082:42 p.m.

The Discovery Storm Chasers are in Omaha and Sioux City, Iowa, this afternoon, getting into position for a severe weather outbreak later today.

Those are good launch points, because the Storm Prediction Center has eastern Nebraska, western Iowa, the corner of Missouri, a morsel of Minnesota and a swath of northcentral Kansas in a moderate risk today.

“The greatest tornado threat would be…along the warm front near the Iowa-Minnesota border,” the SPC synopsis states. “This activity could pose a risk of strong/long-track tornadoes if it occurs.”

The Hastings, Neb., office of the National Weather Service warns that thunderstorms forming in northern Kansas could feature hail up to the size of baseballs and damaging winds up to 70 miles an hour. “A few tornadoes will be possible as well,” a weather service statement reports.

The most likely area of storm formation will be southeast of a line from Geneva, Neb., to Plainville, the weather service predicts.

By Stan Finger | Filed under Thunderstorms, Tornadoes | Comments Off

A record-setting tornado year?

June 11, 20089:16 a.m.

Officials for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say 2008 may well set records for tornadoes and tornado-related deaths.

With 111 deaths as of early June, this is already the deadliest tornado season since 1998, and tornado season has only reached the halfway point, said Greg Carbin, the warning coordination meteorologist at NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla.

It’s also only the third time since 1974 that there have been more than 100 tornado-related deaths during a single season, said Harold Brooks, a research meteorologist at NOAA’s National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman. There were 132 deaths in 1998 and 122 in 1984.

Recent years have averaged about 1,200 tornadoes and 60 tornado-related deaths reported annually across the United States. Unusually turbulent weather may be to blame for this year’s spike in activity, forecasters say.

In previous years, major storms may happen every week or so, but this year they’ve been developing somewhere every three or four days. Tornado season started early, too: 87 tornadoes struck the South and the Midwest over a 24-hour period starting on Feb. 5, and Carbin said February will likely turn out to set records once all the tornado reports have been verified.

The tornadoes this season are also touching down in highly populated areas, NOAA officials said, increasing both the number of fatalities and the number of eyewitness reports for each tornado.

By Stan Finger | Filed under Tornadoes | Comments Off