A deadly Kansas tornado that destroyed a manufactured home near Sedgwick had no tornado warning before it hit, according to the National Weather Service in Wichita.
The EF-2 tornado touched down early Sunday, June 21, about five miles east of Sedgwick. The NWS event summary says it reached estimated peak winds of 135 mph, traveled 0.11 miles, and had a maximum width of 50 yards.
The main damage was to a double-wide manufactured home that was bolted to a poured basement foundation. One person died at the residence, and debris from the home and two outbuildings was found for miles to the northeast.
A brief nighttime tornado can form and disappear before residents have time to see it, hear it clearly, or receive a tornado warning. For people in mobile or manufactured homes, that makes a shelter plan important before severe storms reach the area.
The Tornado Was Brief and Hard To Detect
Vanessa Pearce, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Wichita, told KWCH the tornado was on the ground for about two minutes.
Pearce said the storms appeared as a line on radar, and there was no visible rotation before the tornado touched down. A debris signature appeared after debris was already being lofted, but the tornado was gone almost immediately after that, she said.
Pearce also told KWCH that radar scans can be two to three minutes apart, which means a very brief tornado can form and end between scans.
A Severe Thunderstorm Warning Came First
KWCH reported that a severe thunderstorm warning had been issued about 45 minutes before the deadly storm, with the potential for 70 mph winds.
The tornado warning did not come because the radar did not show the rotation that would have prompted one, Pearce told the station.
The NWS event page also listed damaging wind reports before and around the tornado time, including estimated 65 to 70 mph gusts in Maize and a report of a secured grill being blown into a dining room window in Bel Aire.
Manufactured Homes Need a Shelter Plan Before the Warning
The National Weather Service says mobile and manufactured homes are not safe shelter when tornadoes threaten, even when they are well built.
NWS mobile-home safety guidance tells residents to identify a safer shelter, know how long it takes to get there, monitor watches and warnings, and arrange transportation before storms arrive.
The same guidance says that when a tornado watch is issued and storms are moving toward the area, mobile-home residents should leave for a sturdier shelter rather than waiting until a warning may leave little time.
For families in manufactured housing, that plan has to be ready on quiet days. The safer place, route, transportation, pets, documents, and weather alerts should already be decided before nighttime storms move in.