Chase County residents assess damage from Wednesday’s tornadoes
22 April 2023
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — The National Weather Service (NWS) has completed its preliminary survey of the April 19 tornado damage in Chase County.
The preliminary survey results show that eight tornadoes touched down Wednesday evening. They ranged in strength from EF-0 to EF-2 on the Enhance Fujita Scale.
A description of each tornado was provided:
The first has been rated an EF-1 and touched down 6.01 miles southwest of Elmdale at 8:13 p.m. It was 300 feet wide and traveled for two minutes and .06 miles, with an estimated peak wind speed of 99 mph.
The second tornado was rated EF-0, which touched down a mile southwest of Elmdale at 8:15 p.m. It was also 300 feet wide and traveled four minutes and 1.3 miles to Elmdale, with an estimated peak wind speed of 75 mph. It caused one injury when it overturned a semi-truck at Highway 50 and Highway 150.
The third has been rated an EF-2 with an estimated peak wind speed of 125 mph. It touched down a half-mile southeast of Elmdale at 8:22 p.m. and was a half-mile wide. It traveled for 30 minutes at 11.7 miles before dissipating six miles northeast of Strong City. It damaged a metal building one mile east of Elmdale and two farm outbuildings three miles southwest of Strong City.
The fourth tornado was rated an EF-1 that touched down at 8:31 p.m., 2.5 miles east of Elmdale, with an estimated wind speed of 94 mph. It was 500 feet wide and traveled 1.3 miles for two minutes before dissipating a mile south/southwest of Strong City. Along the way, it damaged several trees and an outbuilding north of Chase County Fishing Lake.
The fifth tornado is rated an EF-0 with estimated wind speeds of around 75 mph. It was 425 feet wide when it touched down at 8:38 p.m. and traveled for two minutes for 2.7 miles from 2.3 miles southwest of Strong City to just north of the city.
The sixth tornado was rated an EF-1 that touched down at 8:35 p.m. east of Cottonwood Falls. It was 150 feet wide with an estimated peaked wind speed of 94 mph. It traveled for 1.1 miles over four minutes before dissipating just under a mile northeast of Cottonwood Falls.
The seventh tornado was rated an EF-0 with an estimated peak wind speed of 85 mph. It was 450 feet wide and traveled for 3.2 miles over 10 minutes. It touched down at 8:42 p.m. east/northeast of Cottonwood Falls. One person was injured by broken glass from a car that was picked up by the tornado.
The final tornado was rated an EF-2. It touched down eight miles northeast of Strong City at 8:55 p.m. It was 300 feet wide and traveled for 5.5 miles over 12 minutes before finally dissipating 3.7 miles south of Dunlap. It damaged a power transmission site near the Chase/Morris County line.
Reminder: The above information is preliminary and subject to change.