The tornado outbreak that happened in the Central Plains over the weekend is still fresh on everybody’s mind. The tornado that has made headlines was the EF5 that struck the small town of Greensburg, KS, which is near State Highway 64. It was reported that 95% of the town was wiped out; unfortunately, 12 fatalities were reported.
Thankfully, the weather service in Dodge City, KS was able to issue a tornado warning for Kiowa County, 25 minutes before the tornado hit. The National Weather Service concluded that the tornado was 1.7 miles wide at it widest point and tracked 22 miles before lifting. The tornado was rated an EF-5, the first of its kind since the new Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale has been implemented. The last F5 was back on May 4th, 1999 in Oklahoma City. The winds with an EF-5 tornado are 200 to 234 mph. The winds with this tornado were estimated at 205 mph according to the NWS.
The whole town of Greensburg was evacuated when a 14,000 gallon tank of ammonia overturned and started leaking during the storm. According to Larry Ruthi, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Dodge City, the tornado moved at a speed of 20 mph and it took 15 to 20 minutes to wipe out the whole town.
(Image Source: NWS, Velocity Data)
Wes Wyatt
Steven Ray
The last F5 tornado that was in Moore, OK (just south of OKC) was actually on May 3rd, 1999 not May 4th. I should know as I was living down there at that time.
Thanks for that correction Christina…
IT IS HIGHWAY 54.