kansas tornado
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Meteorologists have confirmed that more than a half-dozen tornadoes touched down in different parts of Kansas on Thursday, including one that was measured as an EF-3.

Damage surveys conducted by National Weather Service meteorologists have preliminarily confirmed eight tornadoes, which would place 2016 fourth in the rankings of most October tornadoes in state history.

"For October standards, it's halfway decent," Andy Kleinsasser, a meteorologist with the weather service, said of Thursday's outbreak.

Officials are still gathering information about tornadoes reported in Allen County in southeast Kansas on Thursday night, so totals could yet change. But as of late Friday afternoon, four tornadoes earned ratings on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which rates tornadoes based on damage left behind.

Two tornadoes — one in Cowley County and another in Labette County — touched down briefly and then fell apart, said Vanessa Pearce, a meteorologist with the weather service.

The strongest of Thursday's tornadoes touched down a mile west of Kipp in Saline County at about 4:20 p.m. and stayed on the ground for more than six miles, Pearce said. It had peak winds of 140 miles an hour and was 140 yards wide.

It destroyed a manufactured house held down by straps, Pearce said. It also rolled a Jeep about 200 yards and damaged farm equipment.



A tornado that touched down four miles southeast of Salina at 4:14 p.m. was only on the ground for a quarter-mile, Pearce said, but it demolished a barn and damaged a tree line. With peak winds of 112 miles an hour, it was rated an EF-2. That tornado was 60 yards wide.

The tornado that formed two miles west of Cambridge in Cowley County at about 3:15 p.m. was on the ground for a half-mile and had peak winds of 94 miles an hour, Pearce said. The twister was 50 yards wide and was rated an EF-1.

It developed about 40 minutes after a tornado touched down briefly four miles southwest of Burden in Cowley County, according to a report issued by the weather service. It was only on the ground for 100 yards and was 100 feet wide.

"The tornado hopscotched along its path," the weather service reported stated.

The tornado had peak winds of 99 miles an hour. It lifted and moved an outbuilding.

Records indicate tornadoes touch down in Kansas about once every three years, Kleinsasser said. The busiest year for October tornadoes was 2006, when 28 tornadoes developed.

"September, October, even into November you can get that 'Second Season' " of tornado activity in Kansas, Kleinsasser said.

As long as the right combination of atmospheric ingredients are present, he said, tornadoes can form any time of year in the Sunflower State. Kansas has had tornadoes all 12 months of the year.

Forecasters for the weather service initially weren't expecting tornadoes on Thursday because the direction of the wind wasn't favorable for feeding instability in the atmosphere, Kleinsasser said. But morning showers across the region shifted the wind slightly, and that made all the difference.

"It exceeded our expectations," Kleinsasser said of Thursday's tornado potential. "It's amazing how you change the wind direction 30 degrees and that completely changes the picture."