NWS: Warning System No Match for Fast-Forming Tornado

March 6, 2012

Meterologists in the Topeka, Kan., bureau of the National Weather Service say the tornado that hit Harveyville on Feb. 28 formed too quickly to have time to issue a warning.

The EF2 tornado killed one person, injured 11 others and damaged about 40 percent of the Wabaunsee County town.

Chad Omitt, meteorologist in charge of the Topeka branch, says the storm that had produced two tornadoes in Reno County appeared to be weakening. And radar did not show the rotation until the tornado was directly over Harveyville.

The Wichita Eagle reports that another problem was how quickly everything happened. The storm went from looking like a thunderstorm on one radar scan to showing a tornado in another scan four minutes later. On the next scan, the tornado was gone.

Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Windstorm

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