Type Tornado outbreak Max rating | Duration April 13–16, 2012 | |
 | ||
Tornadoes confirmed 114 confirmed, 183 reported Duration of tornado outbreak 2 days, 16 hours, 37 minutes Damage At least $283 million (in Wichita, unknown elsewhere) | ||
From April 13–16, 2012, a major tornado outbreak occurred across a large portion of the Central United States into the Great Lakes region. The storms resulted in 6 tornado-related fatalities, four of which occurred in a mobile home park in Woodward, Oklahoma and two others southeast of Woodward near Tangier, where an EF3 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita Scale caused significant damage and leveled at least 10 homes.
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Meteorological synopsis
An impressive low pressure area began tracking into the Central Plains on April 13, and a high-end slight risk of severe weather was issued with isolated strong tornadoes possible. Central Oklahoma was hardest hit with large hail, although one tornado was reported. It caused minor damage in Norman, Oklahoma, where there were unofficial reports of injuries.
For only the second time in history (previously for April 7, 2006), a day two high risk of severe weather was issued by the Storm Prediction Center. In the discussion, the SPC stated that a major tornado outbreak was likely across central Kansas and north-central Oklahoma during the afternoon and overnight hours of April 14. It was later expanded to include a second high risk area across much of Nebraska, where a rare 45% tornado probability was given during the late morning update on April 13. During the morning hours on the 14th, the high risk area was expanded again to combine the two separate areas into a single large one. Later in the day, the 45% tornado probability was shifted from Nebraska south to Kansas and northern Oklahoma.
Several PDS Tornado Warnings were issued in Kansas, being some of the first ever PDS warnings. Many tornadoes were reported, but most of them were in rural areas with little damage despite being considered "large and extremely dangerous".
An EF2 tornado struck and damaged the Greater Regional Medical Center in Creston, Iowa. The hospital was triaging and moving patients. A temporary hospital was set up at Southwest Community College.
At least four tornadoes were reported near Dodge City, in southwestern Kansas. Two were reported in Rush County.
Late in the evening, a potentially violent tornado tracked across a long swath of south-central Kansas and into Wichita around 10:15 pm CDT (0315 UTC). Staff at the Wichita National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office at Wichita Mid-Continent Airport were forced to hand over responsibility for their County Warning Area to the National Weather Service offices in Topeka and take shelter at about 10:00 pm CDT (0300 UTC), returning to duty half an hour later.
Around 10:00 p.m. CDT (0300 UTC), a broken squall line began to form across the eastern portions of the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles; a thunderstorm developed ahead of the northern line segment in northwestern Wheeler County, Texas at approximately 10:30 p.m. CDT (0330 UTC), and began developing supercell characteristics as it tracked northeastward into the Oklahoma counties of Ellis and Roger Mills. A tornado warning was issued for Ellis, Harper and Woodward counties at 12:00 am CDT (0500 UTC) on April 15 after weather spotters reported a tornado spawned by this supercell located 7 miles (11 km) southeast of Gage in Ellis County. This tornado later struck Woodward, Oklahoma at 12:20 am CDT (0520 UTC), killing six people.
Wichita area tornado
The supercell which affected the Wichita area had a history of producing tornadoes as early as 6:15pm near Mooreland, Oklahoma, and the storm itself originated in the Texas Panhandle. The supercell tracked northeastward at a very quick pace, producing periodic tornadoes across north-central Oklahoma and south-central Kansas.
An intense tornado started at 55th & Broadway and tracked directly across the Wichita metropolitan area late in the evening of April 14 before following I-35 and dissipating near Cassoday, Kansas. The hardest hit areas were in the southern part of the city, near McConnell Air Force Base, as well as some of the southern suburbs, including Oaklawn-Sunview and Haysville and eastern suburb Andover before following the Kansas Turnpike northeast. A few of the homes in the Oaklawn area were completely leveled. Local NBC affiliate KSNW reported that a building at a Spirit Aerosystems plant on the western fringe of McConnell Air Force Base collapsed. Several hangars on the base were also damaged. The Wichita Eagle reported that 90 homes of the Pinaire Mobile Home Park, located in Oaklawn sustained damage of at least 50 percent. A gas fire was reported at the mobile home park, and several residents were trapped in the rubble, but were later rescued. A condominium was also badly damaged. The Preliminary assessments placed damage at $283 million.
While this tornado was on the ground, staff at the Wichita National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office on the western perimeter of the Wichita Mid-Continent Airport were forced to hand over responsibility for their County Warning Area to the National Weather Service offices in Topeka and take shelter at about 10:00 pm CDT (0300 UTC), due to the close proximity of the predicted tornado track to their location. While within their shelter room, the WFO Wichita staff used a laptop computer and personal smartphones to continue to monitor the tornado on radar. The tornado ended up passing within six miles of the facility at its closest point; the staff returned to duty half an hour later.
NWS surveys rate the tornado as an EF3, based on damage at McConnell and upward into Oaklawn. No fatalities occurred, despite the intensity and dense population, but 38 people were injured.
The path of this tornado bore a striking resemblance to the track of an F5 tornado that killed 17 people in Sedgwick and Butler counties on April 26, 1991.
Woodward tornado
The only killer tornado of the outbreak touched down 3 miles (4.8 km) northeast of Arnett in southern Ellis County, Oklahoma at 11:50 p.m. CDT on April 14. The tornado tracked northeastward into Woodward County, Oklahoma around 11:59 p.m. CDT, hitting the city of Woodward at 12:19 a.m. CDT on April 15. The most severe damage took place in Woodward, where major damage was reported in the western and northern parts of town, with 89 homes and 13 businesses reported damaged, and 10 houses were leveled. Vehicles were tossed and destroyed by the tornado as well. By the time the tornado lifted around 12:27 a.m. CDT approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Woodward in northwestern Woodward County, six fatalities were caused by the storm, four of which (one adult male and three female children between the ages of 5 and 10) occurred at the Hideaway Mobile Home Park on 26th Street on the northwest side of town; a sixth person died of his injuries on April 16. 28 additional people sustained injuries in the nighttime tornado.
The 20 outdoor warning sirens located around Woodward did not sound prior to the tornado due to damage sustained to a tower used to activate the electricity-powered system by a lightning strike; as a result, most Woodward area residents had to rely on warnings either from local television stations broadcasting from the Oklahoma City market through cable and satellite television or NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards. Damage surveys from the National Weather Service Norman Forecast Office have given the tornado an EF3 rating.
Aftermath
On April 15, 2012, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback declared a state of emergency for the entire state due to the tornadoes, straight-line winds, hail and flash flooding. Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin declared a state of emergency the following day on April 16 for twelve Oklahoma counties (Alfalfa, Caddo, Canadian, Cleveland, Ellis, Harper, Jackson, Kiowa, Logan, Oklahoma, Woods and Woodward).
On April 18, Fallin filed a federal disaster declaration request for Woodward County with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, seeking government funding to provide temporary housing, low-interest loans, disaster unemployment assistance and disaster expense grants for people and businesses affected by the storms; officials for the Governor's office stated that if the request is granted, additional Oklahoma counties currently included in the state of emergency declaration may be added to the federal disaster declaration.
On April 19, 2012, FEMA announced that the southwestern Iowa counties of Union and Fremont that were also affected by the tornadoes would not qualify for federal assistance, both counties also received state disaster declarations by Governor Terry Branstad. FEMA denied the disaster declaration request for the twelve Oklahoma counties the following day on April 20. The Small Business Administration accepted a separate disaster declaration request filed by Governor Fallin for Woodward County on April 26; the declaration will allow the SBA to provide low-interest disaster loans for renters, homeowners, business owners and non-profits to repair or replace storm-damaged property not covered by insurance or other federal assistance programs.