National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

Record Tornado Year For Tri-State Area

The 2007 severe weather season continued the active weather pattern established last December and January when heavy snow and ice crippled the area. The severe weather season began in late March, about four weeks earlier than usual, and brought a large number of long-lived tornadoes. Thirty five tornadoes were recorded in a 4-week period from late March through late April. That is impressive in itself, but when that number is compared to the average annual number of tornadoes in the Tri-State region, 12, the numbers become even more staggering. The month of May contributed another 8 tornadoes to the total.

Although June was relatively quiet in terms of tornado numbers (one reported June 19), the following month of July more than offset the low June total. In fact, July 3 will go down as one of the more significant tornado days of 2007. A total of ten tornadoes occurred across Kit Carson county on that afternoon. Fortunately most occurred over rural areas with minimal damage. Four days in 2007 are responsible for 43 of the 54 tornadoes, or about 80% of the total. These dates are listed below, along with the number of tornadoes occurring each day:

March 28 ... 16
April 23 .... 8
April 24 .... 9
July 3 ..... 10

These dates now rank in the top ten for days with large numbers of tornadoes. Reliable records for tornadoes date back to 1950.

The map below shows the locations of initial tornado development for all 54 tornadoes. A few tornadoes were in very close proximity, and do not display as a distinct dot on the map. The complete paths are not shown, only the initial locations. Many tornadoes had path lengths of 5 to 15 miles. The map is color coded to highlight the four main tornado days (see legend). The numbers indicate the tornadoes which ultimately received an Enhanced Fujita Scale rating of EF1 and EF2.

The list below gives some details about the 54 tornadoes which have occurred. EF is the Enhanced Fujita Scale rating (0-weak, 5-violent). All times are Mountain Daylight Time.

Date     EF  Begin     End       County      Location
Mar 24   0   3:40 PM   3:41 PM   Yuma        15 E Clarkville
Mar 28   0   5:49 PM   5:50 PM   Wallace     2 SSE Sharon Springs
Mar 28   0   5:52 PM   6:07 PM   Wallace     Sharon Springs - 6NE Sharon
Mar 28   0   6:05 PM   6:20 PM   Decatur     6SE - 2NNW Jennings
Mar 28   0   6:37 PM   6:38 PM   Sherman     11SSE Goodland
Mar 28   0   6:48 PM   7:04 PM   Greeley     13SSW - 7WSW Tribune
Mar 28   0   6:49 PM   6:50 PM   Sherman     5SE Goodland
Mar 28   0   7:06 PM   7:11 PM   Sherman     2N - 5N Edson
Mar 28   1   7:09 PM   7:53 PM   Gree-Wal    5WSW Tribune - 3S Weskan
Mar 28   2   7:15 PM   8:17 PM   Sherm-Chey  11NE Goodlnd - 12NNW Bird Cty
Mar 28   1   7:49 PM   7:56 PM   Cheyenne    4E - 5ENE Bird City
Mar 28   1   8:09 PM   8:36 PM   Chey-Dundy  12NNE Bird City - 8NNE Benkelman
Mar 28   0   8:29 PM   8:34 PM   Sherman     4E - 4NE Edson
Mar 28   0   8:51 PM   9:01 PM   Wallace     17WNW - 21NW Tribune
Mar 28   0   8:54 PM   8:55 PM   Sherman     4NE Edson
Mar 28   0   9:09 PM   9:10 PM   Wallace     5S - 4S Weskan
Mar 28   0   9:24 PM   9:28 PM   Cheyenne    1SE - 1N Bird City
Apr 21   0   5:54 PM   5:55 PM   Kit Carson  13N Bethune
Apr 23   1   6:47 PM   7:25 PM   Wallace     3E - 15NE Sharon Sprgs
Apr 23   0   7:03 PM   7:18 PM   Wallace     5N - 10NNE Wallace
Apr 23   0   8:38 PM   8:59 PM   Thomas      6SSE - 4E Brewster
Apr 23   0   9:02 PM   9:04 PM   Sherman     8NE Goodland
Apr 23   1   9:15 PM   10:15 PM  Thom-Rawl   3NW Levant - 14SSW Atwood
Apr 23   1   10:15 PM  10:39 PM  Rawlins     16S - 5.5SE Atwood
Apr 23   1   10:44 PM  10:59 PM  Rawlins     10SE - 10.5ESE Atwood
Apr 23   0   10:49 PM  10:50 PM  Yuma        15N Wray or 4E Wauneta
Apr 24   0   11:58 AM  11:59 AM  Cheyenne    Wild Horse
Apr 24   0   12:15 PM  12:25 PM  Cheyenne    3W - 7W Wild Horse
Apr 24   0   12:38 PM  12:42 PM  Cheyenne    6WNW - 7WNW Wild Horse
Apr 24   1   1:26 PM   1:36 PM   Cheyenne    6NNE - 9NNW Cheyenne Wells
Apr 24   0   1:37 PM   1:45 PM   Cheyenne    5NE - 6N Arapahoe
Apr 24   0   1:48 PM   1:49 PM   Wallace     3NW Weskan
Apr 24   0   1:55 PM   2:14 PM   Cheyenne    8NNE - 11NNW Arapahoe
Apr 24   0   2:00 PM   2:01 PM   Cheyenne    18NW Cheyenne Wells
Apr 24   0   2:00 PM   2:01 PM   Cheyenne    26NW Cheyenne Wells
May 14   0   5:25 PM   5:26 PM   Norton      4SW Lenora
May 22   0   5:49 PM   5:53 PM   Wallace     4N - 5.5NNE Weskan
May 22   0   5:48 PM   5:54 PM   Graham      10WSW - 8WSW Hill City
May 22   0   6:10 PM   6:16 PM   Graham      8SW - 5SSW Hill City
May 22   0   7:02 PM   7:03 PM   Logan       5W Oakley
May 22   0   7:23 PM   7:24 PM   Sheridan    Angelus
May 29   0   4:21 PM   4:22 PM   Yuma        4SE Yuma
May 29   0   4:58 PM   4:59 PM   Yuma        1SE Wray
Jun 19   0   1:35 PM   3:53 PM   Sheridan    3SE - 5SE Tasco
Jul 03   0   3:21 PM   3:41 PM   Kit Carson  12N - 12NNE Siebert
Jul 03   0   3:31 PM   3:35 PM   Kit Carson  9NNW Siebert
Jul 03   0   3:36 PM   3:51 PM   Kit Carson  7NNW Siebert
Jul 03   0   3:45 PM   3:49 PM   Kit Carson  7NNW Siebert
Jul 03   0   3:45 PM   3:53 PM   Kit Carson  7NNW Siebert
Jul 03   1   3:57 PM   4:22 PM   Kit Carson  5NNW - 6N Siebert
Jul 03   0   3:57 PM   4:13 PM   Kit Carson  5NNW - 5N Siebert
Jul 03   0   4:29 PM   4:34 PM   Kit Carson  3W Siebert
Jul 03   0   3:49 PM   3:53 PM   Kit Carson  12N Bethune
Jul 03   0   4:08 PM   4:12 PM   Kit Carson  6NW Burlington

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
300 PM MDT THU JUL 12 2007

...2007 IS A RECORD-BREAKER FOR NUMBER OF TORNADOES IN THE TRI-STATE AREA...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE (NWS) OFFICE IN GOODLAND HAS LOGGED 54 TORNADOES IN ITS 19 COUNTY WARNING AREA SINCE JANUARY 1. THIS NUMBER FAR EXCEEDS THE PREVIOUS CALENDAR YEAR RECORD OF 42 TORNADOES...WHICH OCCURRED IN 1994. IN AN AVERAGE YEAR...ABOUT 12 TORNADOES OCCUR IN THE AREA. THE GOODLAND OFFICE SERVES 13 COUNTIES IN NORTHWEST KANSAS...THREE IN EASTERN COLORADO AND THREE IN SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA. ALTHOUGH TORNADO RECORDS DATE BACK TO THE LATE 1800S...MORE RELIABLE RECORDS START IN 1950 WHEN A NATIONWIDE EFFORT TO KEEP ACCURATE TORNADO STATISTICS BEGAN.

HERE IS A LIST OF 2007 TORNADO DATES...AND THE NUMBER OF TORNADOES OCCURRING EACH DAY

MARCH 24....1
MARCH 28...16
APRIL 21....1
APRIL 23....8
APRIL 24....9
MAY 14......1
MAY 22......5
MAY 29......2
JUNE 19.....1
JULY 3.....10

THANKFULLY...NO FATALITIES OR INJURIES HAVE OCCURRED EVEN THOUGH A RECORD NUMBER OF TORNADOES HAVE BEEN REPORTED.

IT IS ALSO NOTEWORTHY THAT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRING ON MARCH 28 2007 RESULTED IN 16 TORNADOES WHICH IS THE MOST EVER RECORDED IN A SINGLE DAY IN THE TRI-STATE AREA...AND THE MOST OCCURRING IN THE MONTH OF MARCH. IN ADDITION...2007 NOW CLAIMS 4 OF THE TOP 9 DATES FOR NUMBER OF TORNADOES.

HERE IS A LIST OF THE AREA TOP TORNADO PRODUCING DATES FROM 1950 TO 2007...

MARCH 28 2007.....16 **
OCTOBER 31 2000...13
JULY 3 2007.......10 **
JUNE 1 2003.......10
APRIL 24 2007......9 **
JUNE 12 1983.......9
JULY 9 1993........9
APRIL 23 2007......8 **
JUNE 7 1992........8

THE ENHANCED FUJITA (EF) SCALE RANKS TORNADOES BASED ON THE DAMAGE PRODUCED...WITH EF5 BEING THE STRONGEST AND EF0 BEING THE WEAKEST. THE LIST BELOW IS A BREAKDOWN OF TORNADO RATINGS FOR THE TRI-STATE AREA IN 2007. ONE REASON FOR THE LARGE NUMBER OF EF0 TORNADOES IS THAT OUR AREA HAS A VAST AMOUNT OF OPEN FARMLAND AND PASTURELAND AND A VERY LOW DENSITY OF HOMES AND FARMSTEADS. TORNADOES WHICH DO NOT PRODUCE DAMAGE ARE GIVEN A RATING OF EF0.

EF2....1  (BIRD CITY TORNADO ON MARCH 28)
EF1....9  (3 ON MARCH 28, 4 ON APRIL 24, 2 ON OTHER DATES)
EF0...44

NATIONALLY...THE PRELIMINARY 2007 TORNADO COUNT STANDS AT OVER 1000...HOWEVER THIS NUMBER IS SUBJECT TO CHANGE AS DAMAGE SURVEYS ARE COMPLETED AND FINAL REPORTS ARE ISSUED. UNFORTUNATELY, THERE HAVE BEEN 73 TORNADO FATALITIES SO FAR IN 2007, WHICH EXCEEDS THE 10-YEAR AVERAGE OF 62.

$$

DAVID FLOYD
WARNING COORDINATION METEOROLOGIST
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE - GOODLAND KS