Andover, Kansas Tornado Outbreak
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Template:Infobox tornado outbreakThe Andover, Kansas Tornado is among the most well-known and most photogenic tornadoes of the 20th century. It was the most notable tornado of nearly 70 that hit Kansas, Oklahoma, and surrounding areas on April 26, 1991. It was the only F5 tornado of 1991 and the 16th F5 tornado to hit in Kansas state history. Seventeen people were killed and 225 were injured.
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Forecast
On April 25, The National Weather Service predicted a "high risk" of severe weather for the following day. In fact, the National Severe Storms Forecast Center issued a Public Severe Weather Outlook stating that an "extremely dangerous weather situation" was forecast for much of the middle United States. A strong storm system was due to move through the area the next afternoon & evening [1]. The Andover tornado is only the most well-known tornado of a huge tornado outbreak with many other large tornadoes.
Template:Tornado Chart (based on NOAA Storm Data)
Reported tornadoes
April 26 event
| F# | Location | County | Time (UTC) | Path length | Damage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas | ||||||
| F2 | Montgomery | Montgomery | 0945 | 6 miles (9.7 km) | ||
| F2 | Washington | Washington | 1425 | 4 miles (6.5 km) | ||
| F0 | Chase | Chase | 1445 | 1 mile (1.6 km) | ||
| F3 | Washington | Washington | 1450 | 25 miles (40.5 km) | ||
| F0 | Morris, Wabaunsee | Morris, Wabaunsee | 1510 | 13 miles (21.1 km) | ||
| F2 | Wabaunsee, Shawnee, Jackson | Wabaunsee, Shawnee, Jackson | 1535 | 44 miles (71.3 km) | ||
| F0 | Harper, Sumner | Harper, Sumner | 1620 | 18 miles (29.2 km) | ||
| F0 | Sumner | Sumner | 1630 | 4 miles (6.5 km) | ||
| F1 | Sedgwick | Sedgwick | 1647 | 2 miles (3.2 km) | ||
| F5 | From Haysville to El Dorado Lake | Sedgwick, Butler | 1657 | 46 miles (74.6 km) | 17 deaths - Began as a narrow F2-F3 tornado in Haysville; However, it rapidly widened and intensified as it moved through McConnell Air Force Base. There was immense damage in McConnell, and many well constructed homes were swept off their foundations in Andover. Golden Spur Mobile Home Park demolished with numerous injuries and fatalities. Storm was well documented through video, photography, and eyewitness accounts - see section on this | |
| F1 | Sedgwick, Harvey | Sedgwick, Harvey | 1710 | 2 miles (3.2 km) | ||
| F4 | W of Arkansas City to Cambridge | Cowley | 1730 | 25 miles (40.5 km) | 1 death - Tornado passed Arkansas City to the west, and then moved between the communities of Strother Field and Hackney area. Many suburban homes were completely destroyed, and one woman was killed in her home. | |
| F0 | Wabaunsee | Wabaunsee | 1735 | 9 miles (14.6 km) | ||
| F2 | Butler, Chase | Butler, Chase | 1810 | 25 miles (40.5 km) | Tornado touched down near El Dorado Lake. It was captured on video by several reporters who sought shelter under a highway overpass - see section on this | |
| F3 | Howard to Severy | Elk, Greenwood | 1826 | 14 miles (22.7 km) | 1 death - Spawn from the same storm that produced the Strother/Hackney F4 tornado. Six miles north of Howard the tornado leveled a mobile home killing the occupant. | |
| F0 | Chase | Chase | 1840 | 1 mile (1.6 km) | ||
| F0 | Sedgwick | Sedgwick | 1933 | 1 mile (1.6 km) | ||
| F3 | Greenwood, Woodson | Greenwood, Woodson | 1935 | 15 miles (24.3 km) | ||
| F1 | Shawnee, Jefferson | Shawnee, Jefferson | 1945 | 11 miles (17.8 km) | ||
| F2 | Jefferson, Atchison | Jefferson, Atchison | 2000 | 25 miles (40.5 km) | ||
| F0 | Montgomery | Montgomery | 2120 | 1 miles (1.6 km) | ||
| Oklahoma | ||||||
| F2 | Kay | Kay | 0545 | 1 mile (1.6 km) | ||
| F3 | Garfield | Garfield | 1700 | 6 miles (9.7 km) | ||
| F0 | Garfield | Garfield | 1715 | unknown | ||
| F4 | Garfield, Noble, Osage | Garfield, Noble, Osage | 1730 | 66 miles (107.0 km) | Longest tracked, and probably most violent tornado of the outbreak. The monsterous storm was followed and doccumented for most of its 66 mile path by numerous storm chasers. Fortunately, it spent most of its life in open country and only affected a handful of man-made structrues causing minimal injuries/damage. The highest rating that could be given was F4 based on the small amount of damage done. Had this tornado tracked through a populated area, the destruction/loss of life would have been devestating - see section on this | |
| F3 | Payne | Payne | 1838 | 7 miles (11.3 km) | ||
| F4 | Westport area | Pawnee, Osage | 1910 | 32 miles (51.9 km) | 1 death - Very large and dangerous tornado moved through the Westport area leveling several well constructed homes/buildings and causing 24 injuries on top of one fatality (a man was killed in his car on the Cimarron Turnpike). | |
| F1 | Osage | Osage | 1927 | unknown | ||
| F2 | Washington | Washington | 2005 | 6 miles (9.7 km) | 1 death - Fatality probably occured the storm struck a mobile home or automobile. | |
| F4 | Ookogah area | Rogers | 2045 | 4 miles (6.5 km) | Though short-lived, this large and violent tornado destroyed several homes and severly damaged a high school in the Oologah area before abruptly dissipating. 22 people were injured; however, there were no fatalities. On top of the destruction this tornado caused, a downburst that followed the storm caused further damage. | |
| F1 | Rogers | Rogers | 2110 | 2 miles (3.2 km) | ||
| Nebraska | ||||||
| F1 | Fillmore | Fillmore | 1440 | 1 mile (1.6 km) | ||
| F2 | Gage | Gage | 1600 | 4 miles (6.5 km) | ||
| F3 | Otoe | Otoe | 1615 | 14 miles (22.7 km) | ||
| F0 | Pierce | Pierce | 1715 | unknown | ||
| Texas | ||||||
| F2 | Cherokee | Cherokee | 1800 | unknown | ||
| F3 | Cherokee | Cherokee | 1811 | 3 miles (4.9 km) | ||
| F2 | Smith | Smith | 1840 | 1 miles (1.6 km) | ||
| F2 | Rusk | Rusk | 1844 | 2 miles (3.2 km) | ||
| F2 | Rusk | Rusk | 1900 | unknown | ||
| F1 | Rusk | Rusk | 1922 | unknown | ||
| F2 | Red River | Red River | 2100 | unknown | ||
| F1 | Red River | Red River | 2119 | unknown | ||
| F2 | Red River | Red River | 2130 | unknown | ||
| F1 | Red River | Red River | 0105 | unknown | ||
| Iowa | ||||||
| F1 | Shelby | Shelby | 1844 | 2 miles (3.2 km) | ||
| F3 | Crawford | Crawford | 1900 | 2 miles (3.2 km) | ||
| F3 | Sac | Sac | 1913 | 6 miles (9.7 km) | ||
| F2 | Dickenson | Dickenson | 2000 | 18 miles (29.3 km) | ||
| F2 | Wayne | Wayne | 2210 | 9 miles (14.6 km) | ||
| F2 | Wayne | Wayne | 2210 | 15 miles (24.3 km) | ||
| F2 | Iowa | Iowa | 0055 | 5 miles (8.1 km) | ||
| F1 | Iowa | Iowa | 0109 | 2 miles (3.2 km) | ||
| Missouri | ||||||
| F1 | Andrew | Andrew | 2115 | 2 miles (3.2 km) | ||
| F0 | Newton | Newton | 2239 | 3 miles (4.9 km) | ||
| F1 | Andrew | Andrew | 2257 | 2 miles (3.2 km) | ||
| F0 | Jasper | Jasper | 2305 | unknown | ||
| Sources: NOAA Storm Data | ||||||
The Andover Tornado
The tornado that produced the most extensive damage formed south of Clearwater, Kansas. It fluctuated between F2 and F3 intensity as it crossed I-35 and moved across the city of Haysville. Widespread damage was reported in Haysville, but there were no fatalities. On the east side of Haysville, the tornado became a solid F3 in strength as it crossed the Kansas Turnpike for the 1st time and made a beeline toward the McConnell Air Force Base.
Many people had advance warning before the tornado struck McConnell Air Force Base. The tornado struck the base school & housing at F2-F3 strength. It caused $62 million in damage on base and just barely missed a pair of $200+ million B-1 bombers. The damage path widened as the tornado intensified to F4 strength just East/Northeast of the base.
By 6:35 P.M, the tornado had expanded to just over 600 feet wide and was producing F5 damage on the Fujita scale. It continued to move Northeast toward the Golden Spur Mobile Home Park in Andover, KS; as it passed through, it obliterated the park and caused thirteen deaths. The tornado then veered north, missing Girl Scout Camp Seikooc, where summer camp training was being conducted as well as a troop campout.
The tornado then moved on to the Northeast, passing just south of Towanda, KS. Most of the damage in this area was rated at F2-F3 intensity, though these numbers may be skewed: the rural area's lack of significant structures makes it difficult to accurately gauge the amount of damage. The tornado continued Northeast and reached El Dorado Lake just before 7 P.M. Video taken by local storm chasers shows that the tornado crossed over the lake and revealed a multiple vortex structure. Just after crossing over the lake to the Northeast, the original circulations dissipated and a new, much weaker tornado formed. The Andover tornado had traveled for nearly 46 miles.
The El Dorado Lake Tornado
The new, weaker tornado moved Northeast toward Cassoday, KS. A news team from KSNW-TV in Wichita was returning to the station along the Kansas Turnpike from a story unrelated to the tornado. The reporters soon encountered a tornado, and decided to try to shoot video of the storm. However, the tornado veered and began following a path along the highway at a speed faster than they could drive. They reached an overpass where several people had already abandoned their cars. The cameraman advised the other people that they should all get into the very upper part of the overpass, thinking that this would shield them from the wind. The cameraman left the camera on as the tornado closed in. As the relatively weak tornado passed nearby, the winds blew wildly. The overpass itself did not receive a direct hit from the tornado, but it appeared to on camera. It lasted approximately 20 seconds. The tornado then continued northeast and dissipated at about 7:30 p.m., just Northeast of the Cassoday Interchange of the Kansas Turnpike. All the cars parked under the underpass had all windows blown out. Other cars and big rigs on the turnpike (actually hit by the tornado) rolled multiple times and were tossed all over the road.
The Red Rock Tornado
South of Wichita, in Garfield county Oklahoma, tornado chasers (inculding Warren Faidley, Gene Moore, and many other big-name chasers) observed the touchdown of what would be the longest tracked tornado of the outbreak. Initially, the storm was narrow and produced up to F3 damage to the south of Billings. A few oil tanks were toppled and power poles were knocked down. As the funnel crossed into Noble county, video and photographic evidence suggusts dramatic widening strenghtening. The damage path across northern Nobile county appeared to be between 3/4 and 1 mile in diameter. Trees were debarked and pavement was scoured off roads. Fortunately, the tornado encountered little man made structures along its path. At least one home was completely demolished leaving no walls standing (indicating F4 damage). At one point a University of Oklahoma chase team used a portable dopplar radar to measure a windspeed of 286 mph in the funnel (well beyond the F5 threshold). At the time, this was the fastest wind speed ever measured on the face of the earth (it has now been surpassed by a 318 mph gust near Oklahoma city on May 3, 1999). As the tornado passed through Nobile and into Osage, two farms were completely destroyed and several additional oil rigs were toppled. The tornado lifted in central Osage county, after having traveled for 66 miles. It is likeley that this was the most violent tornado of the outbreak (exhibited dramatic multiple vorticies and motion); however, it did not encounter many man made structures making it difficult for storm survey teams to rate it. It was given an F4 rating, which was probably the best they could have done given the data available.
Aftermath
In addition to the millions of dollars of damage, 225 injuries and seventeen deaths, the tornado also contributed to the commonly held (albeit false) belief regarding tornado safety. Due to the popularity of the news team's video, in which they are depicted surviving by using an overpass for shelter, overpasses are now frequently jammed with people seeking shelter during tornado activity. Such was the case in many areas during the 1999 Oklahoma Tornado Outbreak, in which some people actually left the safety of their homes when the tornado warning was issued to take shelter under overpasses. One tornado hit three underpasses and killed people at each one.
An overpass is an extremely dangerous spot to be in a tornado, especially if it does not have the open girder design like that in the video. That bridge design is very rare; the vast majority of underpasses are mere open slabs, offering no protection from wind and debris. Using these underpasses as protection does little more than raise people above ground level, exposing them to higher winds and more debris. Additionally, the windspeed may be increased by the wind tunnel effect. Another danger is the sheer number of people now congregating at underpasses blocks traffic, which has hindered emergency responders. Moreover, it presents the danger that an intense tornado will hit people taking shelter as well as bystanders stuck in traffic, who are massed in a vulnerable location incurring the possibility of a significant death toll. NWS Presentation on Deaths Due to Use of Underpasses as Shelters