Fallen tree limbs and debris from the EF-1 tornado that swept through the area Thursday is stacked along Ungenhauer Road in Prescott. The tornado surprised emergency and weather personnel, who did not have the storm on radar until it had fully materialized over the area. (Photo by Corey Preston / Coreypreston@miconews.com)
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Tornado Strikes Prescott Area
EF1 Storm Surprises Weather, Emergency Personnel, Does Damage To Trees, Outbuildings
By Corey Preston, coreypreston@miconews.com
An unanticipated tornado did damage to a number of properties in Prescott on Thursday night, one of a number of instances of severe weather to torment Linn County in the past week.
A tornado struck the Prescott area at approximately 11:30 p.m. June 5, county Fire Chief Doug Barlet said. The tornado was classified as EF1, which can see winds between 86 mph and 110 mph and generally causes damage to roofs, trees and exterior doors or windows.
The tornado did significant damage to a handful of barns, outbuildings and trees in the area, Barlet said, and surprised weather spotters and the National Weather Service, which did not foresee the event.
“There were no severe weather reports (at that time), no advanced warning,” Barlet said. “The Weather Service said they had it on radar right over Prescott, but up to that point, they had nothing ... it dropped in right past our spotters.”
The tornado caused a power outage in the Prescott area that lasted roughly 24 hours, he said.
The tornado came after severe weather, in the form of heavy winds, hard rain and powerful hail, earlier in the week caused significant damage in the county, particularly in the La Cygne and Linn Valley areas.
Barlet estimated that 80 percent of the county had received hail during the three waves of storms that hit June 3.
“We’re not sure at this point about damage to crops, but there’s likely to be some,” he said.
The Youth Front camp in Linn Valley reported roughly 300 trees damaged in the storm, and the Linn County Park in rural La Cygne likely saw similar damage, Barlet said.
Due to heavy rain, Barlet said he’d received updates on the local water table and that the prognosis was optimistic in terms of avoiding flooding.
The Marais des Cygne River near Trading Post was expected to peak at 24.3 feet by Tuesday — flood stage is reached at 25 feet — and the river near La Cygne should peak at 21.6 feet.
“Hopefully, we won’t see significant flooding, as long as we don’t get hit too hard on Thursday,” Barlet said.
Weather forecasters are predicting more possible storms Thursday or Friday, Barlet said, but after that, a significant dry period is anticipated.
The Kansas Department of Emergency Management was scheduled to hold a meeting with county officials and representatives of affected cities Tuesday in Pleasanton to discuss damage estimates from the storms.
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A tornado struck the Prescott area at approximately 11:30 p.m. June 5, county Fire Chief Doug Barlet said. The tornado was classified as EF1, which can see winds between 86 mph and 110 mph and generally causes damage to roofs, trees and exterior doors or windows.
The tornado did significant damage to a handful of barns, outbuildings and trees in the area, Barlet said, and surprised weather spotters and the National Weather Service, which did not foresee the event.
“There were no severe weather reports (at that time), no advanced warning,” Barlet said. “The Weather Service said they had it on radar right over Prescott, but up to that point, they had nothing ... it dropped in right past our spotters.”
The tornado caused a power outage in the Prescott area that lasted roughly 24 hours, he said.
The tornado came after severe weather, in the form of heavy winds, hard rain and powerful hail, earlier in the week caused significant damage in the county, particularly in the La Cygne and Linn Valley areas.
Barlet estimated that 80 percent of the county had received hail during the three waves of storms that hit June 3.
“We’re not sure at this point about damage to crops, but there’s likely to be some,” he said.
The Youth Front camp in Linn Valley reported roughly 300 trees damaged in the storm, and the Linn County Park in rural La Cygne likely saw similar damage, Barlet said.
Due to heavy rain, Barlet said he’d received updates on the local water table and that the prognosis was optimistic in terms of avoiding flooding.
The Marais des Cygne River near Trading Post was expected to peak at 24.3 feet by Tuesday — flood stage is reached at 25 feet — and the river near La Cygne should peak at 21.6 feet.
“Hopefully, we won’t see significant flooding, as long as we don’t get hit too hard on Thursday,” Barlet said.
Weather forecasters are predicting more possible storms Thursday or Friday, Barlet said, but after that, a significant dry period is anticipated.
The Kansas Department of Emergency Management was scheduled to hold a meeting with county officials and representatives of affected cities Tuesday in Pleasanton to discuss damage estimates from the storms.