Hoisington is a city in Barton County,Kansas,United States. As of the 2020 census,the population of the city was 2,699.
A tornado warning is a public warning that is issued by weather forecasting agencies to an area in the direct path of a tornado,or a severe thunderstorm capable of producing one,and advises individuals in that area to take cover. Modern weather surveillance technology such as Doppler weather radar can detect rotation in a thunderstorm,allowing for early warning before a tornado develops. They are also commonly issued based on reported visual sighting of a tornado,funnel cloud,or wall cloud,typically from weather spotters or the public,but also law enforcement or local emergency management. When radar is unavailable or insufficient,such ground truth is crucial. In particular,a tornado can develop in a gap of radar coverage,of which there are several known in the United States.
From May 2 to 8,1999,a large tornado outbreak took place across much of the Central and parts of the Eastern United States,as well as southern Canada. During this week-long event,152 tornadoes touched down in these areas. The most dramatic events unfolded during the afternoon of May 3 through the early morning hours of May 4 when more than half of these storms occurred. Oklahoma experienced its largest tornado outbreak on record,with 70 confirmed. The most notable of these was the F5 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado which devastated Oklahoma City and suburban communities. The tornado killed 36 people and injured 583 others;losses amounted to $1 billion,making it the first billion-dollar tornado in history. Overall,50 people lost their lives during the outbreak and damage amounted to $1.4 billion. For these reasons,the outbreak is known in Oklahoma as the May 3rd outbreak or the Oklahoma tornado outbreak of 1999.
From May 4–6,2007,a major and damaging tornado outbreak significantly affected portions of the Central United States. The most destructive tornado in the outbreak occurred on the evening of May 4 in western Kansas,where about 95% of the city of Greensburg in Kiowa County was destroyed by an EF5 tornado,the first of the new Enhanced Fujita Scale and such intensity since the 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado. The supercell killed 13 people,including 11 in Greensburg and two from separate tornadoes. At least 60 people were injured in Greensburg alone. It was the strongest tornado of an outbreak which included several other tornadoes reported across Oklahoma,Colorado,Kansas and South Dakota that occurred on the same night.
A tornado emergency is an enhanced version of a tornado warning,which is used by the National Weather Service (NWS) in the United States during imminent,significant tornado occurrences in highly populated areas. Although it is not a new warning type from the NWS,issued instead within a severe weather statement or in the initial tornado warning,a tornado emergency generally means that significant,widespread damage is expected to occur and a high likelihood of numerous fatalities is expected with a large,strong to violent tornado.
A multi-day tornado outbreak affected the central plains of the United States from May 22–27,2008. It was also one of the largest continuous tornado outbreaks on record. A total of 173 tornadoes were confirmed,with the most intense activity occurring across the Great Plains. One person was killed when a large wedge tornado struck Windsor,Colorado,and two more deaths were reported in Pratt County,Kansas. One person was also killed near Hugo,Minnesota on May 25 and nine were killed by an EF5 tornado that destroyed most of Parkersburg,Iowa and a small subdivision of New Hartford,Iowa. Another fatality,caused by lightning related to the storms,occurred in central Kansas.
The tornado outbreak sequence of June 3–11,2008 was a series of tornado outbreaks affecting most of central and eastern North America from June 3–11,2008. 192 tornadoes were confirmed,along with widespread straight–line wind wind damage. Seven people were killed from a direct result of tornadoes;four in Iowa,two in Kansas,and one in Indiana. Eleven additional people were killed across five states by other weather events including lightning,flash flooding,and straight-line winds. Severe flooding was also reported in much of Indiana,Wisconsin,Minnesota and Iowa as a result of the same thunderstorms,while high heat and humidity affected much of eastern North America;particularly along the eastern seaboard of the United States from New York City to the Carolinas.
Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA),formerly known as the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS),and prior to that as the Personal Localized Alerting Network (PLAN),is an alerting network in the United States designed to disseminate emergency alerts to mobile devices such as cell phones and pagers. Organizations are able to disseminate and coordinate emergency alerts and warning messages through WEA and other public systems by means of the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System.
From May 10–13,2010,a major tornado outbreak affected large areas of Oklahoma,Kansas,Missouri,and Arkansas,with the bulk of the activity in central and eastern Oklahoma. Over 60 tornadoes,some large and multiple-vortex in nature,affected large parts of Oklahoma and adjacent parts of southern Kansas and Missouri,with the most destructive tornadoes causing severe damage in southern suburbs of the Oklahoma City metropolitan area and just east of Norman,Oklahoma,where the fatalities were reported from both tornado tracks. The outbreak was responsible for three fatalities,all of which occurred in Oklahoma. Damage was estimated to be over $595 million in central Oklahoma alone.
The 1999 Bridge Creek–Moore tornado was a large,long-lived and exceptionally powerful F5 tornado in which the highest wind speed ever measured globally was recorded at 321 miles per hour (517 km/h) by a Doppler on Wheels (DOW) radar. Considered the strongest tornado ever recorded to have affected the Oklahoma City metropolitan area,the tornado devastated southern portions of Oklahoma City,Oklahoma,United States while near peak intensity,along with surrounding suburbs and towns to the south and southwest of the city during the early evening of Monday,May 3,1999. Parts of Bridge Creek were rendered unrecognizable. The tornado covered 38 miles (61 km) during its 85-minute existence,destroying thousands of homes,killing 36 people,and leaving US$1 billion in damage,ranking it as the fifth-costliest on record not accounting for inflation. Its severity prompted the first-ever use of the tornado emergency statement by the National Weather Service.
The 2011 Super Outbreak was the largest,costliest,and one of the deadliest tornado outbreaks ever recorded,taking place in the Southern,Midwestern,and Northeastern United States from April 25 to 28,2011,leaving catastrophic destruction in its wake. Over 175 tornadoes struck Alabama,Mississippi,and Tennessee,which were the most severely damaged states. Other destructive tornadoes occurred in Arkansas,Georgia,Kentucky,Louisiana,New York,and Virginia,with storms also affecting other states in the Southern and Eastern United States. In total,367 tornadoes were confirmed by NOAA's National Weather Service (NWS) and Government of Canada's Environment Canada in 21 states from Texas to New York to southern Canada. Widespread and destructive tornadoes occurred on each day of the outbreak. April 27 was the most active day,with a record 223 tornadoes touching down that day from midnight to midnight CDT. Four of the tornadoes were rated EF5,which is the highest ranking on the Enhanced Fujita scale;typically these tornadoes are recorded no more than once a year.
The term "tornado preparedness" refers to safety precautions made before the arrival of and during a tornado. Historically,the steps taken have varied greatly,depending on location,or time remaining before a tornado was expected. For example,in rural areas,people might prepare to enter an external storm cellar,in case the main building collapses,and thereby allow exit without needing rescue from the main building as in urban areas. Because tropical storms have spawned many tornadoes,hurricane preparations also involve tornadoes. The term "tornado preparedness" has been used by government agencies,emergency response groups,schools,insurance companies,and others.
The 2011 Joplin tornado was a large and devastating multiple-vortex tornado that struck Joplin,Missouri,United States,on the evening of Sunday,May 22,2011. Part of a larger late-May tornado outbreak,the EF5 tornado began just west of Joplin and intensified very quickly,reaching a maximum width of nearly one mile (1.6 km) during its path through the southern part of the city. The tornado tracked eastward through Joplin,and then continued across Interstate 44 into rural portions of Jasper and Newton counties,weakening before it dissipated.
From April 13 to 16,2012,a major tornado outbreak occurred across a large portion of the Great Plains. The storms resulted in six tornado-related fatalities,all of which occurred as a result of a nighttime EF3 tornado that caused major damage in and around Woodward,Oklahoma. Numerous other tornadoes occurred,including a violent EF4 tornado that passed near Marquette,Kansas,and an EF3 that caused major damage in Wichita.
A significant and destructive tornado outbreak that affected parts of the Midwestern United States and lower Great Plains in mid-May 2013. This event occurred just days after a deadly outbreak struck Texas and surrounding southern states on May 15. On May 16,a slow moving trough crossed the Rockies and traversed the western Great Plains. Initially,activity was limited to scattered severe storms;however,by May 18,the threat for organized severe thunderstorms and tornadoes greatly increased. A few tornadoes touched down that day in Kansas and Nebraska,including an EF4 tornado near Rozel,Kansas. Maintaining its slow eastward movement,the system produced another round of severe weather nearby. Activity significantly increased on May 19,with tornadoes confirmed in Oklahoma,Kansas,Iowa,Missouri,and Illinois. In Oklahoma,two strong tornadoes,one rated EF4,caused significant damage in rural areas of the eastern Oklahoma City metropolitan area;two people lost their lives near Shawnee. The most dramatic events unfolded on May 20 as a large EF5 tornado devastated parts of Moore,Oklahoma,killing 24 people. Thousands of structures were destroyed,with many being completely flattened. Several other tornadoes occurred during the day in areas further eastward,though the majority were weak and caused little damage.
The 2013 Moore tornado was a large and extremely violent EF5 tornado that ravaged Moore,Oklahoma,and adjacent areas on the afternoon of May 20,2013,with peak winds estimated at 210 miles per hour (340 km/h),killing 24 people and injuring 212 others. The tornado was part of a larger outbreak from a slow-moving weather system that had produced several other tornadoes across the Great Plains over the previous two days,including five that had struck portions of Central Oklahoma the day prior on May 19.
A relatively widespread,damaging,and deadly tornado outbreak struck the central and southern United States in late April 2014. The storm complex responsible for the outbreak produced multiple long-track tornadoes –seven of which were deadly,causing 35 fatalities. One additional death occurred in Florida,due to severe flooding associated with this system.
During the late evening of Friday,December 10,2021,a violent,long-tracked,EF4-intensity tornado,sometimes referred to as the Western Kentucky tornado,Mayfield tornado,or The Beast,moved across Western Kentucky,United States,producing severe-to-catastrophic damage in numerous towns,including Mayfield,Princeton,Dawson Springs,and Bremen. This tornado was the second significant tornado in an exceedingly long-tracked tornado family;it began just inside northern Obion County,Tennessee –a few miles after another long-tracked tornado that traveled through northeast Arkansas,the Missouri Bootheel,and northwest Tennessee –and dissipated in western Obion County. After crossing into Kentucky,the tornado moved through eleven counties of the Jackson Purchase and Western Coal Field regions,at times becoming wrapped in rain during its almost three-hour lifespan that covered 165.6 miles (266.5 km). It was the deadliest and longest-tracked tornado in an outbreak that produced numerous,strong tornadoes in several states;this tornado caused 57 deaths.
In the afternoon hours of April 27,2011,a large and long-tracked EF4 tornado moved across Central Alabama,devastating several communities along a 127.8 miles (205.7 km) path,including Cordova and Blountsville. The tornado killed 13 and had a maximum width of 1,408 yards (0.800 mi). It occurred as part of the largest tornado outbreak in modern history,and was one of eleven EF4 tornadoes to strike the Southern United States on April 27. The tornado was the second-longest tornado of the outbreak;only the Hackleburg tornado had a longer track.
In the afternoon hours of April 26,1991,a large and devastating tornado moved 46 miles (74 km) through areas southeast of Wichita,located in the state of Kansas. The tornado killed seventeen,injured over two hundred others,and left an estimated $300 million of damage in its wake. The tornado was one of the most powerful to ever strike Kansas;it received the highest rating on the Fujita scale.
