Greensburg, Kansas EF5 and the May 4-6 2007 Tornado Outbreak

On this day in 2007, a tornado outbreak occurred in Kansas and Oklahoma, that produced 25 tornadoes, followed by 84 the next day, and 14 on the 6th. The tornadoes killed 14, and caused $268 million worth of damage. The outbreak is remembered for producing the Greensburg, Kansas EF5, which was the first EF5 tornado since the NWS began using the Enhanced Fujita Scale earlier that year, and the first F5/EF5 tornado since the Moore tornado from May 3, 1999.

Greensburg tornado


Radar signature of the tornado. Bright pink and red ball over Greensburg is the tornado debris ball.

The tornado touched down around 9:20PM southwest of Greensburg, and moved northeast. At 9:41PM, the National Weather Service in Dodge City issued a Tornado Emergency for the city, seen below.

KIOWA KS-
941 PM CDT FRI MAY 4 2007

…A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM CDT FOR CENTRAL KIOWA COUNTY…

…A TORNADO EMERGENCY FOR GREENSBURG….

AT 937 PM CDT…NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS AND STORM SPOTTERS WERE TRACKING A LARGE AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TORNADO. THIS TORNADO WAS LOCATED 5 MILES SOUTH OF GREENSBURG…MOVING NORTH AT 20 MPH. A VIOLENT TORNADO WAS ON A DIRECT PATH FOR PORTIONS OF GREENSBURG…ESPECIALLY THE EASTERN PORTIONS OF TOWN. TAKE IMMEDIATE TORNADO PRECATIONS…THIS IS AN EMERGENCY SITUATION FOR GREENSBURG!! 

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 200 AM CDT SATURDAY MORNING FOR SOUTHWESTERN KANSAS.

LAT…LON 3749 9936 3745 9929 3760 9901 3764 9936

$$

UMSCHEID

It was later determined that the tornado was 1.7 miles wide, and produced winds in excess of 205mph. The tornado was responsible for 11 of the 14 deaths in the outbreak, and two more were killed when the supercell produced another tornado that was believed to be 2 miles wide northeast of town, which was rated as an EF3. 

Destruction in Greensburg

After the tornado cleanup, the city started rebuilding from scratch, and decided to rebuild green. Many of the homes in the city that are being rebuilt or have been rebuilt already are set to meet strict energy efficiency standards to help lower energy costs, and this may have helped reverse the city's trend of having a dwindling population. (Population before the tornado was about 1500.)

Welcome to Greensburg sign on the city limits.