93.9 The Eagle – The News and Talk of Columbia, MO
(AP) The National Weather Service has rated a tornado that caused extensive damage in eastern Kansas an EF-4.
Tuesday’s twister had peak winds of 170 mph (274 kph).
The tornado was part of a severe system that moved through the area west of Kansas City, causing 18 injuries and damaging homes, trees and power lines in Douglas, Leavenworth and Wyandotte counties.
The weather service said the tornado developed southwest of the college town of Lawrence as an EF-3 storm and strengthened as it moved northeast. The tornado was on the ground for almost 32 miles (51 kilometers) and was a 1 mile (1.6-kilometers) wide at its largest.
The National Weather Service has rated a tornado that was on the ground for nearly six miles northeast of Kansas City, Missouri, as an EF-2.
Meteorologist Jonathan Kurtz said Wednesday that no injuries were reported with the tornado, which damaged trees and homes Tuesday night and had peak wind speeds of 115 mph (185 kph).
The tornado was part of a severe system that moved through the area Tuesday.
The weather service is still assessing the strength of a twister that injured at least 15 people, three of them serious, and damaged homes, trees and power lines in Douglas and Leavenworth counties in eastern Kansas.
