Cold Core Tornado Cases
Associated with Closed Upper Lows

    Jonathan D. Finch

 
             *Note: In a few instances, data from the Oklahoma Mesonet and Kansas Weather Data Library were used.*
Kansas Mesonet, 2014: Kansas Mesonet Historical Data. Accessed 5 December 2019, http://mesonet.k-state.edu/weather/historical
Also note that some data used on the primary case study web site were provided by the Oklahoma Mesonet, CoAgmet and High Plains Regional Climate Center
For the Oklahoma mesonet, see the citation at the end of the page

In previous research, Jon Davies (2004),  (2006) and Jared Guyer and Jon Davies (2010) defined a cold core severe storm environment as one occurring within 200 miles of the center of a closed low at 500mb.
Some of their schematics and relevant statistics are summed here from Guyer and Davies 2010.

In the present work, historical cases of tornadoes in cold core environments were studied, with emphasis on central and western Kansas. Three different regimes were isolated, namely: tornadoes occurring north of an upper low, tornadoes occurring east or northeast of an upper low along a warm front occlusion, or tornadoes forming along a cold front occlusion. These are compared to the traditional warm sector dry line environment in the following schematics. Below are a list of tornado cases with cold core systems, along with the meteorological details and event maps. 

References

Davies, J. M.:  Tornadoes with Cold Core 500-mb Lows, Weather and Forecasting 21 (6), December 2006
Davies, J. M., 1993: Small tornadic supercells in the central plains. Preprints, 17th Conf. on Severe Local Storms, St. Louis, MO, Amer. Meteor. Soc., 305-309.
Boustead J.M. Synoptic Case Study of the Central Plains Mini-Supercells on 29 October 2000
Jonathan M. Davies, Wichita, KS; and J. L. Guyer  22nd Conference on Severe Local Storms
J. L. Guyer and Jonathan M. Davies, 2010:  Environment Characteristics associated with Tornado events near closed cold core 500mb lows
McDonald, M., 2000: Cold core tornadoes: A forecasting technique. Internal report, Prairie Storm Prediction Centre, Environment Canada, 7 pp.
Miller, R. C., 1972: Notes on analysis and severe-storm forecasting procedures of the Air Force Global Weather Central, AWS Tech. Rep. 200 (rev.), Air Weather Service, Scott AFB, IL, 190 pp.

Here are some schematics I have developed based on the case studies below. This work is preliminary and incomplete.

Traditional Warm Sector Setup
Tornadoes north of an upper low
Tornadoes generally east of an upper low near cold front occlusion or on the occlusion
Tornadoes along warm front or warm front occlusion

A list of things to look for based on work by Davies/Guyer and the case studies below:

    
Oklahoma mesonet data were occasionally used on this page and on other pages under the main case study page.

McPherson, R. A., C. Fiebrich, K. C. Crawford, R. L. Elliott, J. R. Kilby, D. L. Grimsley, J. E. Martinez, J. B. Basara, B. G. Illston, D. A. Morris, K. A. Kloesel, S. J. Stadler, A. D. Melvin, A.J. Sutherland, and H. Shrivastava, 2007: Statewide monitoring of the mesoscale environment: A technical update on the Oklahoma Mesonet. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 24, 301–321. (link to article)

Brock, F. V., K. C. Crawford, R. L. Elliott, G. W. Cuperus, S. J. Stadler, H. L. Johnson, and M. D. Eilts, 1995: The Oklahoma Mesonet: A technical overview. J. Atmos. Oceanic Technol., 12, 5-19. (link to article)


DateDist. Dir. 
to H5  Low
Miles/Deg.		Surface500mbSFC/500mbAssortmentH7TH5TLifted Index (H7/H5)CAPEInst. DiscPhotosStorm
Data		Map of EventsDescription
OK/KS/NE
1951 Apr 5
150/305°21Z18Z     00Z21ZH5TD0-20-3/-5.5Tornado  hit 3 miles west of Waynoka, OK Two men were injured and a truck was demolished at 445 pm. Another tornado hit 11 miles east of Waynoka as barns smashed. Two inch hail did considerable damage east of Waytona.
1955 Apr 12160/200°20Z15Z11  03Z12  15Z12   03Z13  21ZH5TD-3-24-5/-91800MapSeveral smaller tornadoes followed by a larger tornado west of Jetmore
1958 Apr 4
1959 Mar 2050/220°19Z00Z20   12Z20
00Z21		18ZH5TD-4-23-4/-6 Tornadoes occurred from near Mountain View, OK to near Carnegie, OK in open country. Hail did damage. Highly visible tornado was seen south of Mountain View by many residents.
1959 Mar 25115/280°00Z26-2-20-3/-4Tornado tracked slowly northeast over a 30 minute period from northwest of Weatherford, OK to 7 miles northeast of Weatherford. Barns and granaries were destroyed at multiple locations. Combine moved 150 ft.  The tornado was 6 miles NE of town at 710 pm.
1960 Feb 20160/320°21Z19   03Z20   07Z20   15Z20   20Z   21Z12Z 19   00Z20   12Z20   00Z21mod. sounding-10-29-4/-4Tornadoes skipped ESE  from 15 miles SW of Watonga to near Okarche. 1.75" hail NW OKC
1961 May 1375/220°21Z00Z13  12Z13   00Z14   21ZH5Td2-18-6/-6Map   Tornadoes around Lamar, CO. One tornado skirted the SE edge of Lamer, uprooting trees and damaging farm buildings.  Possible tornado 5 miles west of Goodland, KS where 3 buildings were damaged. 
1962 May 18?
1964 May 1
1965 Mar 1680/270°12Z   15Z   18Z   20Z   22Z00Z17Tropopause-3-24-5/-91800Map    MapTornadoes southwest and west of Garden City. Another tornado 45 miles NW of GCK and near Lamar. The tornado W and NW of Garden City looked like a big whirlwind. Grain bines were picked up and strewn for 3/4 mile. A canopy was blown off a house trailer and farm equipment was damaged.
1970 Jun 1190/270° 09Z11  12Z11  15Z11  18Z11  21Z11  01Z1212ZH5    00Zh5Tropopause     modified
A family of tornadoes first deveoloped about 50 miles NNE of Dodge City and moved N/NNE to near Ellis, KS between 7 and 815 pm. Earlier in the day around 11 am, a tornado was witnssed by residents and moved straight north, blowing 2000 lb steel grain bins 200 yds (25 miles NE of Garden City).
1971 Feb 18145/320°09Z  12Z  15Z  18Z  20Z00Z18   12Z18    00Z19-4-21-6/-6.51800MapA storm generated several tornadoes from near Sublette to 15 miles northeast of Kalvesta. Another tornado occurred near Ulysses.
1971 May 520Z21ZH5TA tornado hit the edge of Broken Bow, NE at 350 pm (250 pm CST).  Farm implements were overturned and damaged.
1972 Apr 26180/300°17Z   20Z00Z27-1-20Tornado moved northeast at 10 mph about 7 miles NNE of Meade at 245 pm. Tornado reported 12 NE of Meade at 3 pm
1972 May 23 ?Tornadoes across central NE
1973 Mar 1370/220°22Z00Z13  12Z13   00Z14-1-19-3.5/-6InstA tornado hit the eastern part of Goodland, damaging a school and several homes. Another tornado was reported by Highway Patrol on I-70 between Goodland and Kanorado, but is not listed in the official data.
1973 Mar 24?
1973 Apr 19?220/250°16Z-2-21-3.5/-6InstMapTornadoes in north central Kansas
1973 May 6150 /180°21Z12Z5   00Z6   12Z6   00Z721Z   H5Td0-19-5/-8.51InstMapMoved southwest from 8 miles SSW of Burlington, CO. Five injured, 3 critically.
1974 Apr 1120Z21Zmodified900Hit 10 ENE of Broken Bow. The surface observation sheet from Broken Bow listed a tornado 12 miles NE of Broken Bow on the Cooksley farm at 20 UTC. The tornado moved to the NW, damaging outbuildings.
1975 Apr 821Z
23Z800A steel building was destroyed by high winds 9 NE of Broken Bow at 5 pm.  A tornado touched down 10 miles NE of Scotia at 6 pm CST, damaging a granary.
1976 Mar 1185 /245°23Z-4-22-4/-6Hail damaged buildings 10 miles west of McCook, NE. Tornado destroyed hog sheds 5 miles northeast of Gothenburg, NE. Tornado moved northeast for 1 mile from 5 west of Kiowa, KS with outbuildings damaged on two farms.
1976 Mar 29A tornado moved from 3 E of Glasco to 5 NE of Glasco at 130 pm.
1977 May 21Tornado was reported by a pilot 1 SE of Cedar Bluff reservior that around 11 to noon lasted for 10 mins. This event is not in storm data, There were several tornadoes across Nebraska.
1979 Apr 10?22Z00Z11-2-19Tornado in Hays. Man and wife injured when mobile home overturned. Moved NNE and touched down a few times in the southeast part of Hays.
1979 Apr 1150/180°19Z00Z11  12Z11   00Z1221ZH5T-5.5-25-6.5/-6.5Tornado 11 miles N of Levant in open country.  Barn unroofed near Lebanon in Red Willow county NE and tornado in Buffalo county NE
1981 May 1621Z21ZH5TTwo storms producing intermittent, small tornadoes moved across southwestern Kansas.
1981 May 17A storage building destroyed 5 N of Oakley, KS at 356 pm. Funnel clouds sighted near Ransom, Brownell and Utica.
1983 May 17Tornado moved over open country 13 N and 5 W of Stockton, KS, damaging farm buildings
1984 Apr 2120/240°21Z12Z1  00Z2   12Z2   00Z321ZH5T-6.5-25.5-3.7/-5Tornadoes at Rusell KS and south central KS. Tornado hit the SW part of Russell at 418 pm. A trailer was unroofed and several RVs were damaged at Russell.
1987 Mar 1421Z21Zh5
21ZH5T		Houses were partially unroofed as a tornado moved through the NE part of Nelson, NE at 548 pm.
1987 May 385/180°21Z12Z3    00Z421Z  21Zmodified.5-17.53500MapF2 tornado at Satanta, KS in Haskell county that moved southwest.
1988 May 2135/180°16Z   21Z12Z1   00Z2   12Z2   00Z315Z2   18Z01
18Z02		modified-3-211600MapTornadoes  4.5 West and 2.5 North of Tribune destroyed outbuildings. Other tornadoes near Scott City and 10 south of Scott City. A tornado 1 S of Rozel  left a stand of adult Elms and Evergreens in piles in a shelterbelt.
1990 Mar 11600 (-9C)600 (-6.5)A tornado touched down 1 SE of Alden, KS and moved NNE to just west of Lyons. The tornado touched down again N of Lyons and lifted S of Geneseo. Several farms received extensive damage between Alden and Geneseo. Power poles were downed and a 5-ton farm machine was rolled 100 yds.  A major outbreak occurred two days later from Oklahoma into Nebraska.
1991 Apr 240/310°21Z31  21Z01
12Z02   16Z  18Z  19Z  20Z  21Z 22Z  23Z   00Z  
12Z1   00Z2   12Z2   00Z3VIS18Z
VIS21Z
-1.5-21-3/-6.51800A tornado touched down briefly 1 west of Aetna, KS at 430 pm CST. Another tornado was spotted by the state police crossing from Oklahoma into Kansas at 18 S of Coldwater at 508 pm and then lifted. Hail to 1 inch was reported 12 miles SSW of Coldwater at 545 pm.  An F1 tornado occurred at Lookout, OK at 520 pm.  Hail to 1 inch was reported 7 miles  NNE of Camp Houston at  618 pm. A tornado with path length of 5 miles began at 645 pm CST about 9 miles WNW of Camp Houston between 645 and 655 pm, doing $15K damage to power lines, stroage bins and stock trailers, mostly at Great Plains Feedlot. The tornado was rated F2.
1991 Apr 29
1992 Jan 721Z21Z   00ZH5Tmodified-8.5-25.5-2.5/-2550MapSeveral tornadoes across southern Nebraska including F1 and F2.
1993 Mar 2822Z00Z28  12Z 28   00Z2921ZH5     21ZH6T-4-21-5/-6The tornado in Norton county just east of 283 was reported at 530 pm. A tornado travelled northwest at 20 mph from 4 NW of Norton to 9 NW of Norton from 451 pm to 505 pm, with damage confined to a barn.  Another tornado moved N from 10 N of Norton for a little over a mile from 517 to 522 pm. This tornado crossed 283 before ending across the line in Furnas county. 1" hail accompanied the storm 10 miles south of Hendley  A house was unroofed in Holdrege by a possible tornado at 909 pm and 1: hail occurred at 845 pm.
1994 Apr 9
1999 Apr 5
1999 May 2
2000 Mar 2320/240°21Z21Z-3-20Several tornadoes across southwestern Kansas
2000 Apr 26
2003 Apr 18
2004 Apr 6
2005 Mar 2110/X19Z18Z-4-21Tornado 130 pm 2 SE of Protection, KS and 313 pm near Byron, OK.  Google search for video of Bryon tornado and search "Tornado Seen From Protection, Kansas, 21 Mar 2005"
2005 Apr 05
2006 Mar 20
2006 Oct 26 90/210°20Z21Z-4-20WriteupA narrow corridor of  heating occurred just N of boundary that is not reflected in the surface obs
2007 Mar 31
2007 Apr 24150/215°18Z
2008 Nov 10115/310°19Z  21Z21Z-3-22700photoA narrow CAPE axis is pinched off, but not before a tornado occurrs in Stanton county
2009 Mar 23
2009 Apr 4
2009 Apr 18270/30°18Ztropopause-5-24-6/-71600Impressive supercell  tornado in Finney county KS--for video google "Kansas tornadoes April 18, 2009"
2010 Mar 8100/270°23Z00Z900Z-3-22photosTornadoes in western Oklahoma
2011 Jun 2090/240°18Z18Z   18Z18Z   18Z  18Z App
The location of the tornado near Quinter, KS is denoted in the 500mb/surface feature map by a J.
2012 Feb 28
2014 Dec 14160/280°22Z-3-21WriteupTornadoes in Harper county KS
2015 May 900Z10-19Tornadoes in eastern Colorado
2019 May 2121Z0-18WriteupSignificant tornadoes in central and  northeastern Kansas
IA/MN/SD
ND/WI
1957 May 14Tornado at 11 am moved northwest at Blooming Prairie, MN. A barn was destroyed and other buildings damaged.. Hail accompanied the storm.
1958 Apr 1A "black swirling cloud" hit the Mary Hill community and Meriden around  Numerous sheds barns and outbuildings were torn apart with debris flying all over. Huge trees were downed. Hail accompanied the storm.
1958 Apr 517ZTwo tornadic storms moved northward and northwestward across NW Iowa. One storm moved 60 miles from near Oto to beyond Alton and Hosper, producing many tornadoes between 1045 am and 115 pm. Another tornado moved from 6 S of Ayrshire to 4 E of Spencer and possibly beyond. between 2 pm and 3 pm.
1960 Mar 29Buildings damaged and power lined down along with hail.at Trenton, MO
1961 May 14Near Tyndall in Bon Homme county, SD at 1245 pm, a funnel cloud moved to the SW and demolished a double garage and partially demolished a machine shed and nearby automobiles.
1963 Mar 1617ZTwo tornadic storms moved NNE across NW Iowa. One storm moved NNE, producing tornadoes near LeMars (1215 pm) and Matlock (1 pm). Another storm moved NNE and produced at least two tornadoes, one 6 miles S of Aurelia and another from 6 SW of Spencer to near Spencer (1 pm).
1972 May 14A tornado moved NNE over open country near Janesville, WI (1 miles southeast)
1973 Mar 31A barn was destroyed 10 N of Peoria at 550 pm.
1975 May 7Many tornadoes occurred in central SD in sparsely populated areas between 1030 and 4 pm.  Power poles were damaged and road shoulder torn up about 12 miles east of Midland.
1977 Mar 28
1980 Apr 7A tornado moved N through the town of Blair, WI, causing minor damage to a munipical building and two homes.
1981 Mar 25A tornado touched down 4 E of Royalton at 1 pm and moved NE for 3 miles. Two barns and several sheds were totally destroyed and 5 cattle were killed. Golf ball hail accompanied the storms across east central MN.
1981 Mar 29A tornado hit 5 N of Atlantic at 920 am, wrapping a horse trailier around a utility pole, killing several livestock, and destroying a large hay barn.
1981 Apr 29
1982 Mar 30
1983 May 1Several tornadoes across eastern NE and SW Iowa including F1 and F2's.
1984 Apr 12Near Delmar, IA, a machine shed was struck with tin sheets blown 1/2 mile around 1120 am. An outbreak of small but damaging tornadoes occurred across eastern IL between 5 and 7 pm.
1984 April 26ModifiedA tornado moved northeast from east of Tuthill at 3 pm CST to about 6 N of Vetal.  Sheds and garages were destroyed on two storms north of Vetal.
1986 Mar 18A tornado touched down 3 W of Canby at 403 pm where it knocked down some sheds and destroyed a barn. A shed was damaged in Canby.
1987 Apr 14A tornado destroyed a barn 5 N of Floris and deposited the remains along a nearby road between 105 and 115 pm. There was considerable tree damage. A small tornado touched down southeast of Ottumwa between 119 and 135 pm, possibly from the same storm. A tornado TD just SW of Keota in Keokuk county, destroying a chicken house at 315 pm.
1988 May 7
1990 Mar 8Tornado touched down 3 miles E of North Liberty, damaging apartment complexes and cars at 540 pm. This storm produced a funnel cloud near Solon. Another tornado occurred  west of Tipton in rural area.
1991 Mar 20A tornado touched down 3 miles S of Bricelyn at 420 pm and caused $200K to one farmstead. Other major damaged occurred several miles SSE.  The same or another tornado hit Wells (15 miles to the NE) at 440 pm where power lines were downed and tracter trailors overturned.
1991 Apr 29
1992 Mar 6Briefly touched down in a farm field south of Ogden, IA.
1998 Apr 7
2003 May 14Few trees broken off near the Cottonwood river
2005 Mar 30