Rare Southern U.S. Winter Storm; Dangerous Cold Weather For Much of the Eastern U.S.; Critical Fire Weather for Southern California

A rare winter storm impacting the Southern U.S. will move offshore Wednesday morning. Behind the storm, arctic air will continue encompassing the eastern two-thirds of the Nation with only a slow return to normal temperatures expected by the end of the week. Moderate to strong Santa Ana winds and low humidity will maintain Critical fire weather conditions in southern California into Thursday. Read More >

Overview

Three tornadoes occurred in northeast Kansas on the afternoon of Thursday, May 26th. One tornado developed near the Kansas River in the south part of Wamego and traveled north through Wamego, damaging trees and producing some minor roof damage to homes. The tornado intensified and produced more intense damage north of Wamego, then traveled through Louisville before ending. A second very brief tornado was spotted by a storm spotter just a couple of miles southwest of Rossville, but was only on the ground for approximately 20 seconds. A third small tornado occurred in Silver Lake and moved quickly within an area of damaging straight line winds associated with a bow echo. The apparent tornado path appeared to be around 50 yards wide. The straight line wind damage swath was much larger and was responsible for overturning irrigation pivots and other damage south of Highway 24.

Tornado
Photos & Video
Storm Reports

Tornadoes:

Tornado - Wamego
Pottawatomie County

Date	May 26, 2016
Time (Local)	2:20 PM to 2:46 PM
EF Rating	EF1
Est. Peak Winds	110 mph
Path Length	5.5 miles
Max Width	200 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0
Summary: This tornado developed near the Kansas River in the south part of Wamego and traveled north through Wamego, damaging trees and producing some minor roof damage to homes. The tornado intensified and produced more intense damage north of Wamego, then traveled through Louisville before ending.

Track Map

Downloadable KMZ File

Tornadoes - Rossville and Silver Lake
Shawnee County

Date	May 26, 2016
Time (Local)	4:06 PM to 4:09 PM
EF Rating	EF0
Est. Peak Winds	80 mph
Path Length	1.5 miles
Max Width	50 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0
Summary: A very brief tornado was spotted by a storm spotter just a couple of miles southwest of Rossville, but was only on the ground for approximately 20 seconds. A couple of minutes later, a small tornado occurred in Silver Lake and moved quickly within an area of damaging straight line winds associated with a bow echo. The apparent tornado path appeared to be around 50 yards wide. The straight line wind damage swath was much larger and was responsible for overturning irrigation pivots and other damage south of Highway 24.

Track Map

Downloadable KMZ File

The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale classifies tornadoes into the following categories:

EF0 Weak 65-85 mph	EF1 Moderate 86-110 mph	EF2 Significant 111-135 mph	EF3 Severe 136-165 mph	EF4 Extreme 166-200 mph	EF5 Catastrophic 200+ mph

Photos & Video:

Wamego Tornado


Tornado near Wamego Photo Courtesy of Chris Schmidt	Tornado near Wamego Photo Courtesy of Chris Schmidt	Tree Damage near Wamego	Roof Damage to a Home north of Wamego