“A line of thunderstorms produced hail, strong winds and a couple of isolated tornadoes during the early morning hours of April 16. No structural damage was noted,” per the National Weather Service – Hastings.
The first tornado occurred near Reamsville, Kan., an unincorporated community in Smith County. It was rated EF-0 with peak winds of 65 mph, a path of 6.8 miles and was 35 yards wide at its maximum width.
The tornado touched down at 1:53 a.m. and lifted at 2 a.m.
“A tornado moved across rural areas of northern Smith County north of Athol. The tornado damaged some trees near its starting point and turned over small mobile building along its way north. The tornado passed near a local limestone quarry,” the NWS Hastings damage survey noted.
The second tornado of the evening occurred near Cowles and Highway 281.
It was also rated EF-0 with peak winds of 65 mph, a path length of 0.8 miles and was 30 yards wide at its maximum.
It was found to have begun at 2:28 a.m. and lifted one minute later.
“This brief, less than one-mile-long tornado traversed open country before crossing U.S. Highway 281 a couple miles north of the Cowles/Highway 281 intersection. Corn stalks were strewn about and minor tree damage was noted,” NWS Hastings stated.
The path of both tornadoes was based on a combination of damage indicators in the field and the Blue Hill Doppler radar correlation coefficient signatures, NWS Hastings stated.
“The Hastings National Weather Service office would like to thank Smith County and Webster County Emergency Management and of local residents for their assistance,” NWS Hastings noted.
The information is noted to be preliminary and could be subject to change pending final review of events and the publication of NWS storm data.
