Late-March 2007 Tornado Outbreak

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Late-March 2007 Tornado Outbreak

A tornado near Turkey, Texas on March 28, 2007
Date of tornado outbreak:	March 28-31, 2007
Duration1:	3 days, 4 hours
Maximum rated tornado2:	EF3 tornado
Tornadoes caused:	80 confirmed
Damages:	$15.1 million[1]
Fatalities:	5
Areas affected:	Central United States
1Time from first tornado to last tornado 2Most severe tornado damage; see Enhanced Fujita Scale

The Late-March 2007 Tornado Outbreak was a tornado outbreak that took place across the central United States. It developed in the High Plains from South Dakota to central Texas on March 28, 2007, which produced most of the tornadoes. Several more tornadoes were reported the next three days before the system weakened on March 31. It affected western Nebraska, western Kansas, extreme eastern Colorado, and much of Oklahoma, and Texas. It was the second major outbreak of 2007, four weeks after an outbreak farther east. The outbreak produced at least 81 tornadoes, and at least five deaths and extensive damage was reported. In addition to the tornadoes, widespread hail as large as softballs and destructive straight-line winds as strong as 90 mph (145 km/h) were reported.

The activity level was very uncertain for March 29, as it was conditional on the dry line refiring. Despite the squall line remaining intact, several more tornadoes developed. Several more tornadoes developed on March 30 and 31 before the system weakened.

Contents 1 Meteorological synopsis 2 Reported tornadoes 2.1 March 28 event 2.2 March 29 event 2.3 March 30 event 2.4 March 31 event 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Meteorological synopsis

A warm, unusually humid air mass was entrenched across much of the eastern and central United States in the fourth week of March. A low pressure system began to develop across the central Rocky Mountains on March 27 and tracked eastward on March 28 into the Dakotas. The high dewpoints to the east, combined with an unstable air mass, meant the potential for severe weather was there across the High Plains. A moderate risk of severe weather was issued by the Storm Prediction Center.^[2]

That afternoon, the first signs of severe weather developed, and tornado watches were issued from South Dakota south to Texas. The advancing dry line and the cold front moving eastward combined to produce explosive supercell development late in the afternoon. Early that evening, supercells with severe thunderstorms and tornadoes were occurring along a nearly continuous line from near Lubbock, Texas to Rapid City, South Dakota. Before the supercells reformed into a squall line late that evening, at least 63 tornadoes were reported, many of them were very large and potentially destructive.^[3] Fortunately, the area is sparsely populated, preventing widespread death and destruction. Still, at least 4 people were killed.^[4]

A tornado was reported by the public south of Holly, Colo. at 7:57 p.m. MDT which caused one death and 11 injuries, of which 8 were hospitalized. A 76 year-old woman later died one month after the event.^[5] 60 homes were damaged and 5 were destroyed. Another tornado near Elmwood, Oklahoma killed 2, making it the first fatalities in Oklahoma caused by a tornado in well over 5 years. ^[6]

On March 29, the squall line that moved eastward prevented a major outbreak during the daytime hours. Only a slight risk of severe storms was issued. Nonetheless, several tornadoes were reported, with two striking in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area with next to no advance warning before they struck. Significant damage was reported there with at least two people hospitalized when their RV was hit and four others injured during a tornado ten minutes later.

Another moderate risk was issued for March 30, this time in south-central Texas into the Mexican state of Coahuila, which was later extended into north Texas and into south-central Oklahoma. At around 2254 UTC, one of the two tornado watches in effect during the day in Texas was lifted, although a watch remained in central and north-eastern Texas. Late in the day, the Oklahoma tornado watch was extended into eastern Kansas.

For March 31, a moderate risk was issued for central Texas with the storm line continuing through the state, along with Oklahoma and Kansas in a north-eastern direction. This outlook was later changed to a slight risk as the system continued on with a tornado watch in effect in south-eastern Texas and a thunderstorm watch in Louisiana. The tornado watch was discontinued around 1504 UTC, although tornado warnings were issued in south-eastern Arkansas. Later in the day, the system reached the north-central United States, which caused warnings to be issued in Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa. As the system continued to move in its north-eastern direction in the early evening, a watch was extended into the north-western portion of Indiana. The system weakened that evening and no tornadoes occurred afterward. However, NWS officials later confirmed a microburst in Carol Stream and Glendale Heights in DuPage County just west of Chicago just before 10:00 PM CDT. Extensive roof and window damage was reported to buildings, including an apartment complex and a church. The damage path was about 0.5 miles (0.8 km) long and 250 yards wide.^[7]

[edit] Reported tornadoes

Confirmed Total	Confirmed EF0	Confirmed EF1	Confirmed EF2	Confirmed EF3	Confirmed EF4	Confirmed EF5
78	42	21	10	5	0	0

[edit] March 28 event

EF#	Location	County	Time (UTC)	Path length	Damage
Kansas
EF0	SE of Sharon Springs (1st tornado)	Wallace	2349	0.5 miles (800 m)	Brief tornado touchdown
EF0	SE of Sharon Springs (2nd tornado)	Wallace	2352	6 miles (9.6 km)	Minor damage on the east side of Sharon Springs
EF0	SE of Jennings	Decatur	0005	8 miles (12.8 km)	Several grain bins were destroyed
EF0	SE of Meade	Meade	0028	1.4 miles (2.25 km)	Brief tornado touchdown.
EF0	NE of Meade	Meade	0032	1.3 miles (2.1 km)	Tornado tracked by storm chasers. Debris reported on the ground up to Fowler.
EF0	NE of Coolidge to SW of Tribune	Hamilton, Greeley	0033	22 miles (39.2 km)	Long-track weak tornado with no damage.
EF0	SE of Goodland (1st tornado)	Sherman	0037	0.5 miles (800 m)	Brief tornado with no damage
EF1	S of Ensign	Meade, Gray	0042	13.3 miles (21.4 km)	Damage to a shed and pivot irrigation sprinkler
EF0	SE of Goodland (2nd tornado)	Sherman	0049	0.5 miles (800 m)	Brief tornado with no damage
EF0	S of Howell	Gray	0058	7.8 miles (12.6 km)	Tornado reported along U.S. Route 24.
EF0	N of Edson	Sherman	0106	3 miles (4.8 km)	Weak tornado with no damage
EF1	NW of Tribune	Greeley, Wallace	0109	23 miles (37 km)	Three occupied mobile/modular homes were damaged
EF1	NW of Ensign	Gray	0114	10.4 miles (16.7 km)	Large and dangerous tornado reported on the ground.
EF2	Bird City area	Sherman, Cheyenne	0115	36 miles (57 km)	Large wedge tornado. Widespread power flashes reported and extensive damage. Tornado missed the village but affected a number of houses.
EF1	N of Howell	Ford, Hodgeman	0132	10.7 miles (17.2 km)	Damage to trees and power lines
EF0	SE of Meade State Park	Meade	0139	8.7 miles (14.0 km)	Weak tornado with no known damage
EF1	E of Bird City	Cheyenne	0149	4 miles (6.4 km)	Damage to power poles. Was videoed at the same time as the larger tornado near Bird City.
EF1	SE of Benkelman	Cheyenne, Dundy (NE)	0209	15 miles (24 km)	Several houses were affected and extensive tree damage at a golf course.
EF3	Jetmore to Beeler	Hodgeman, Ness	0217	25 miles (40 km)	Large tornado killed approximately 50 head of cattle and threw a 5-ton tank 1 mile. Maximum path width was 0.75 miles (1.2 km).
EF0	E of Edson (1st tornado)	Sherman	0229	2.5 miles (4 km)	Tornado reported with transformer flashes. 1 of 2 confirmed in the Edson region from the same storm
EF0	NE of Edson (2nd tornado)	Sherman	0254	0.5 miles (800 m)	Brief tornado with no damage
EF0	S of Weskan	Wallace	0309	0.5 miles (800 m)	Brief tornado with no damage
EF0	SE of Bird City	Cheyenne	0324	2 miles (3.2 km)	Weak tornado with no damage
Texas
EF0	SE of Kress	Swisher, Briscoe	2220	3 miles (4.8 km)	Weak tornado with no damage
EF0	SW of Silverton (1st tornado)	Briscoe	2228	2 miles (3.2 km)	Weak tornado with no damage
EF1	SW of Silverton (2nd tornado)	Briscoe	2243	7 miles (11.2 km)	Damage to utility poles and lightweight buildings
EF0	NE of Silverton (1st tornado)	Briscoe	2303	5 miles (8 km)	Large but weak tornado with no damage
EF0	N of South Plains	Floyd	2303	1 miles (1.6 km)	Minor roof damage to an abandoned farm house
EF0	NE of Silverton (2nd tornado)	Briscoe	2310	2 miles (3.2 km)	Weak tornado with no damage
EF2	NE of Quitaque	Briscoe, Hall, Donley	2335	18 miles (30.1 km)	A trailer house and a barn were destroyed while a house was damaged.
EF0	SW of Clarendon	Donley	2340	1 miles (1.6 km)	Brief tornado with no damage
EF1	W of Clarendon	Donley	2355	7 miles (11.2 km)	One home was damaged
EF2	Booker to Beaver (OK)	Lipscomb, Beaver	0028	22 miles (35 km)	2 deaths - Widespread debris and damage reported. One woman was killed in a solid house, and her husband died later due to critical injuries.[8]
EF3	E of Jericho	Gray	0039	5 miles (8 km)	Several tractor-trailers flipped on Interstate 40. Two people were injured. Several houses were damaged and barns were destroyed. Originally an EF2, later upgraded to an EF3 by the Amarillo NWS office.
EF2	SW of Amarillo	Donley	0046	4 miles (6.4 km)	Heavy tree damage, and one barn was destroyed. Several other outbuildings were damaged.
EF0	N of Hedley	Donley	0102	unknown	Brief tornado with no damage
EF2	McLean area (1st tornado)	Donley, Gray	0113	6 miles (9.6 km)	Heavy damage to several houses. Major tree and power line damage.
EF0	SE of Jericho	Donley	0115	1 miles (1.6 km)	Brief tornado with no damage
EF2	McLean area (2nd tornado)	Gray	0123	4 miles (6.4 km)	Mesonet weather station reported 127 mph (205 km/h) winds. Heavy damage to several houses and barns.
EF0	Lefors (1st tornado)	Gray	0130	1 mile (1.6 km)	Damage to a single tree
EF1	Lefors (2nd tornado)	Gray	0136	2 miles (3.2 km)	A garage was destroyed while another garage was damaged. Damage was also noted to a porch and power poles while tanks, an antique car and a travel trailer were moved some distance.
EF3	E of McLean	Gray	0145	8 miles (12.8 km)	Enormous tornado 1 mile (1.6 km) in width that fortunately remained mostly in rural countryside. Only one house affected with moderate damage. Many trees debarked and severe power line damage.
EF3	W of Canadian	Hemphill	0250	8 miles (12.8 km)	1 death - Enormous damage to several mobile homes, where one person was killed and one other was injured. Several oil rigs were destroyed as well.
Oklahoma
EF2	E of Beaver	Beaver	0055	5 miles (8 km)	Trailers were destroyed as they thrown some distance away. A large silo was toppled.
Nebraska
EF0	NW of Imperial	Chase	0105	unknown	Brief tornado with no damage
EF1	W of Arthur	Arthur	0105	15 miles (24 km)	160 feet of windbreak was destroyed near residence
EF1	NE of Lamar	Chase, Perkins	0111	2 miles (3.2 km)	Damage to power poles
EF0	SW of Nebraska	Cherry	0112	3 miles (4.8 km)	Trees were damaged and a door was blown off a house
EF0	SE of Brandon (1st tornado)	Perkins	0112	unknown	Brief tornado with no damage
EF1	SE of Brandon (2nd tornado)	Perkins	0120	2 miles (3.2 km)	Power poles were damaged.
EF2	Grant area	Perkins	0120	17 miles (27 km)	Tornado damaged outbuildings and destroyed one home, no injuries reported. Maximum path width was 1/2 mile (500 m).
EF1	S of Ashby	Grant	0146	2 miles (3.2 km)	Power lines, trees and fences were damaged and equipment was moved.
EF0	NW of Ogallala airport	Keith	0200	unknown	Brief tornado with no damage
EF1	SW of Ogallala	Keith	0211	0.13 mile (200 m)	Tornado destroyed outbuildings, damaged cattle pens, and moved irrigation pipes at stockyards west of Ogallala.
EF0	N of Ogallala	Keith	0220	unknown	Minor damage to homes and tree limbs
Colorado
EF3	Holly area	Prowers, Kiowa	0154	29 miles (46.4 km)	2 deaths - Large, long track tornado in the area. Five houses were destroyed in town and at least 60 others were damaged. One house was nearly flattened. At least eleven others were injured. Second death reported a month later.[9][10]
EF1	E of Towner, CO to NW of Tribune, KS	Kiowa, CO, Greeley, KS	0240	12 miles (19.2 km)	Four electrical transmission poles were destroyed.
Sources: SPC Storm Reports 03/28/07 NWS North Platte, NWS Goodland, NWS Pueblo, NWS Dodge City, NWS Amarillo NCDC (NOAA) Storm Data

[edit] March 29 event

EF#	Location	County	Time (UTC)	Path length	Damage
Oklahoma
EF1	ESE of Okeene	Blaine	2005	2.3 miles (3.7 km)	Some damage to garages, barns, grain bins and silos
EF2	Piedmont area	Canadian	2107	7.5 miles (12 km)	Widespread structural damage reported in the northwest metropolitan area of Oklahoma City. Numerous mobile homes were destroyed and at least 10 cars were flipped on the Kilpatrick Turnpike according to KOCO coverage and a landing Gulfstream jet was forced off the runway at Wiley Post Airport according to KWTV coverage. Several people were injured, at least two critically.
EF0	W of Hillsdale	Garfield, Grant	2120	3 miles (4.8 km)	Damage to a shed, outbuilding and trees
Sources: SPC Storm Reports 03/29/07 NWS Norman, Oklahoma 2007 Oklahoma tornadoes (NWS Norman, Oklahoma)

[edit] March 30 event

EF#	Location	County	Time (UTC)	Path length	Damage
Texas
EF0	NW of Wimberley	Hays	1503	unknown	Brief tornado with no damage
EF0	SW of Dripping Springs	Hays	1525	unknown	Brief tornado with no damage
EF0	S of Carbon	Eastland	1620	1 miles (1.6 km)	Brief tornado with no damage
EF0	NE of Sweetwater	Nolan, Fisher	1702	7 miles (11.2 km)	A tractor trailer was overturned
EF0	NW of Huckabay	Erath	1743	1 miles (1.6 km)	Brief tornado with no damage
EF0	NW of Aaf Ft Hoo	Bell	2055	3 miles (4.8 km)	Brief tornado with no damage
EF1	SW of Oglesby	Coryell	2136	3 miles (4.8 km)	Barns and two homes were damaged
EF1	Mc Gregor area	Mclennan	2140	2 miles (3.2 km)	Portions of a rodeo arena was destroyed
EF0	Riesel area	Mclennan	2300	1 mile (1.6 km)	Brief tornado with no damage
EF1	Wylie	Collin	0220	0.75 miles (1.2 km)	Over 25 homes sustained damaged in a subdivision
EF1	S of Hallettsville	Lavaca	0930	1 mile (1.6 km)	A barn was destroyed and a mobile was shoved
EF2	SE of Hallettsville	Lavaca	0945	unknown	A mobile home was destroyed injuring its four occupants and a truck was crushed
Kansas
EF0	NE of Council Grove	Morris	0228	3 miles (4.8 km)	Outbuildings were damaged, a side pole was destroyed and a barn was shifted from its foundation. Damage to a power pole and trees
EF0	SW of Clinton	Douglas	0339	Damage to a home due to fallen trees
Sources: SPC Storm Reports 03/30/07 NWS Fort Worth, Texas [1]

[edit] March 31 event

EF#	Location	County	Time (UTC)	Path length	Damage
Nebraska
EF1	W of Herman	Washington	1850	1 mile (1.6 km)	One barn was damaged considerably.
Iowa
EF0	NW of Oelwein	Fayette	2158	0.25 mile (400 m)	A barn was destroyed while a garage, windmill and a machine shed were damaged
EF1	Delaware area	Delaware, Clayton	2230	10 miles (16 km)	20 cows were killed. A machine shed and dairy barn were destroyed.
Missouri
EF0	St. Louis	St. Louis City	2250	1.7 miles (2.7 km)	Roofs of homes and building were damaged, large trees and lamp posts were downed. The roof of a building of Saint Louis University Medical Center and from a church were also damaged, and windows were blown out of an SLU parking garage. Five people were injured.[11][12]
Wisconsin
EF0	Potisi	Grant	2318	unknown	Minor damage to a few buildings and some trees[13]
Source: SPC Storm Reports 03/31/07 NWS La Crosse, Wisconsin NWS Omaha, Nebraska NWS St. Louis, Missouri. Iowa Tornadoes 2007

[edit] See also

• List of North American tornadoes and tornado outbreaks
• Tornadoes of 2007

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Storm Prediction Center