Scattered Severe Thunderstorms Across the Northern Plains; Fire Weather Concerns in the Western U.S.

Scattered severe thunderstorms are forecast across central and eastern North Dakota, as well as far northwest Minnesota Saturday (Slight Risk level 2 of 5). Damaging wind gusts are the primary threat. Elevated to critical fire weather conditions will persist through the weekend across the Western U.S. Isolated dry thunderstorms could lead to new fire starts over portions of the northern Rockies. Read More >

Overview

An outbreak of severe thunderstorms and tornadoes from the Texas Panhandle/western Oklahoma northward into southwest and central Kansas and into the Upper Midwest occurred during the afternoon to evening hours of 16 May 2017. Several supercells developed over southwest into central Kansas with one of these storms resulting in several tornado reports. An initial tornado with this storm occurred south-southeast of Minneola shortly before 6 pm CDT and was rated EF1 with a path length of 4 miles. A second, EF3 tornado started shortly before 8 pm CDT 4 miles east of Larned in Pawnee County and tracked a total of 27 miles across Pawnee into Barton Counties before lifting northwest of Hoistington in Barton County at 840 pm CDT.

Tornado
Photos & Video
Radar

Tornadoes:

Tornado - 5 S-SE of Minneola KS
Clark County

Date	05-16-2017
Time (Local)	5:49 PM CDT
EF Rating	EF1
Est. Peak Winds	85 mph
Path Length	4.0 miles
Max Width	50 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0/0
Summary: Short-lived and mostly rain-wrapped EF1 tornado that began 5 miles south of Minneola near Highway 283. The tornado moved quickly to the east-northeast before dissipating 5 miles southeast of Minneola.

Track Map

Downloadable KMZ File

Tornado - Pawnee/Barton
Pawnee and Barton Counties

Date	05-16-2017
Time (Local)	7:59 PM CDT
EF Rating	EF3
Est. Peak Winds	165 mph
Path Length	27.0 miles
Max Width	300 yards
Injuries/Deaths	2 minor injuries
Summary: Tornado began 4 miles east of Larned in Pawnee County and tracked northeast for five more miles in the county. The tornado continued for another 22 miles in Barton County and ended 2 NW of Hoisington. EF1 damage was seen in Pawnee County followed by EF2 damage in the town of Pawnee Rock along with EF3 damage west/northwest of the Great Bend Airport in Barton County.

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:

Clark County Tornado


EF1 damage 5 miles south of Minneola	EF0 damage 5 miles south-southeast of Minneola	EF0 damage 5 miles south-southeast of Minneola	EF0 damage 5 miles south-southeast of Minneola

Pawnee/Barton County Tornado


EF1 damage 0.5 mile southwest of Pawnee Rock	EF0 damage 0.5 mile southwest of Pawnee Rock	EF0 damage 0.5 mile southwest of Pawnee Rock	EF1 damage 0.5 mile southwest of Pawnee Rock

Epic grainy phone shot of a brief tornado NW of Hoisington, KS on 5/16/17, I'm too lazy to edit the DSLR ones. pic.twitter.com/evTYEsZUYM — Jason Keller (@jasonkellerpt) May 17, 2017		@ReedTimmerAccu tornado on the ground near Great Bend Kansas pic.twitter.com/9Jy0hqpjGn — Brandon L (@BrandonLaBrie) May 17, 2017
				High end EF3 damage around 2 miles northwest of Great Bend Airport	EF3 damage around 2 miles west/northwest of the Great Bend Airport


EF2 damage on west side of Pawnee Rock	EF1 damage in Pawnee Rock State Park	EF2 damage in Pawnee Rock	EF3 damage 2 W of Great Bend Airport


Bark stripped off of trees 2 W of Great Bend	EF3 damage 2 W of Great Bend Airport	Damage 2 W of Great Bend Airport

Radar:

Clark County Tornado Radar Imagery


Radar reflectivity from the Dodge City radar from around 5:53 PM as the storm was south-southeast of Minneola.	Storm relative velocity from the Dodge City radar from around 5:53 PM as the storm was south-southeast of Minneola.

Pawnee/Barton County Tornado Radar Imagery


Radar reflectivity from the Dodge City radar from around 8:03 PM as the storm was approaching Pawnee Rock.	Storm relative velocity from the Dodge City radar from around 8:03 PM as the storm was approaching Pawnee Rock.	Radar reflectivity from the Dodge City radar from around 8:12 PM northeast of Pawnee Rock.	Storm relative velocity image from Dodge City's radar around 8:12 PM northeast of Pawnee Rock.	Dual-pol product (Correlation Coefficient) from around 8:12 PM, showing debris being lifted by the tornado.