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Wednesday, November 16, 1988 / University Daily Kansan
Large power lines were blown to the ground in Topeka, blocking all traffic on West 17th Street from 17th Terrace to Wanamaker Road.
TORNADO
Light, said the storm left about 6,000 customers without electrical power. By 7 p.m., power had been restored to about 4,000 of them.
Continued from p.1
Another tornado was reported in southeast Kansas, in Neosho County, and a storm damaged parts of neighboring Montgomery County.
A tornado in Butterfield, Mo. cut a wide swath of destruction through the southwest Missouri town, demolishing houses and trailer homes.
There was one unofficial report of a fatality, but there were no immediate official reports of injuries.
■ Kansan reporters Barbaria Joseph and David Stewart contributed information to this story.
Weird weather hits state
By Cindy Harger Kansan staff writer
Kansas residents were metaphorically blown away yesterday by unusual weather in Kansas.
Eastern Kansas enjoyed a sunny and warm weekend only to be hit by an out-of-season tornado yesterday and wintry temperatures today. Meanwhile, blizzards hit the western part of the state yesterday.
According to the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Topeka, only seven tornadoes have occurred in the state during November in the past 28 years. That figure included a small tornado that touched down in Pittsburg on Nov. 9.
Curtis Hall, instructor in meteorology, physics and astronomy, said tornadoes usually occurred in Kansas during the late spring. However, tornadoes can occur anytime the right atmospheric conditions exist.
Hall said that tornadoes could occur when a mass of warm, moist air moved up from the south of the continent and was confronted by a mass of cold air moving down from the northwest. Add strong southwesterly winds, called jet streams, and enough energy is given to the system to produce a tornado or a severe thunderstorm.
scent to produce a smell
"We knew yesterday that we were likely to have severe
weather today," Hall said.
A tornado watch was in effect for most of eastern Kansas yesterday, while western Kansas was dealing with near blizzard-like conditions that came behind the tornado front.
The tornado touched down in Topeka yesterday about 2:05 p.m.
In the west, the heavy snow and high winds closed roads and caused a number of traffic accidents. By midafternoon, Goodland and Garden City both had one inch of snow and low visibility because of blowing snow. In Liberal and Hill City, snow was falling and winds gusted at 60 miles an hour.
at 60 mins air condition. Temperatures varied throughout the state. Matt Hinkin, Manhattan senior who works at the KU weather service, said that at 1 p.m., Lawrence had a high of 76 degrees while temperatures dipped to 32 degrees in Goodland on the other side of the state.
Good luck on the other side. As the storm moves east into Iowa, so will the cold temperatures that are lagging behind it., Kansas should feel the effects of that move this week.
Hall said that Lawrence should not receive any more severe weather from this storm system. Other tornadoes are possible but not probable.
Blue Adame, Topeka resident and custodian at Topeka West High School, breaks out broken panes of glass on the south side of the building after a tornado shattered most of the windows.
'66,'83 twisters were worse
By John P. Milburn Special to the Kansan
In each case, the Topeka area had little warning before the tornadoes hit. A May 6, 1983 twister skipped along the southern edge of town causing $7.7 million in damage.
Yesterday's tornado in Topeka was tame compared to the storms that took similar paths in 1983 and 1966.
The tornado, according to witnesses, emerged like a "finger out of the sky," then began to pick off the bodies of person died and 30 were injured.
The storm destroyed 70 homes while damaging more than 370 others. Fifty-five mobile homes also were destroyed.
also destroyed Like the smaller storms, the tornado of June 8, 1966, formed
quickly. Although officials were able to spot the tornado to give advance warning, more than $150 million in damage was done to the city.
The tornadoes took similar paths all three years, hitting the southwest part of Topeka and moving northeast.
It then began moving along a 12-mile path destroying 818 homes and damaging 938. Seventeen people were killed, 353 were injured and 85 were hospitalized. Three nurses and Topakewans were left homeless.
Washburn University was hit hard by the 1966 tornado. More than a dozen buildings were damaged or destroyed. The campus was left with $10 million in damages. Summer school was held at Topeka high schools.
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