Nine tornadoes touch down in the U.S., including rare triple
Digital Reporter
Wednesday, May 25, 2016, 9:36 AM - Severe storms hit parts of the U.S. Great Plains Tuesday, spawning tornadoes across Kansas and Oklahoma. There were over 25 reports of tornadoes across five states and Weather Network Storm Hunters Jaclyn Whittal and Mark Robinson witnessed at least nine of those tornadoes, saying they've "never seen anything like it."
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"What a day! A day that we may not see for a very long time," Whittal said after Tuesday's storm chase. "We saw multiple tornadoes on this cell that started in Minneola, Kansas and produced every type of tornado type (shape wise) that you could ever imagine."
"We saw needle tornadoes, elephant trunks, we had cones, we had stovepipes, and close to the end we had a wedge tornado," Robinson added.
A wedge tornado is one that is wider than it is tall. The Storm Hunters also witnessed two tornadoes on the same cell.
"In fact, we may have had three tornadoes on the same cell because we had two needle tornadoes plus the big one beside it," Robinson says.
Two on the ground at once seen here earlier near Minneola, KS - we are still chasing it pic.twitter.com/IlqVWqeOJk
— Jaclyn Whittal (@jwhittalTWN) May 25, 2016
According to the U.S. National Weather Service, a large tornado destroyed a home in Ensign, Kansas before it continued moving north towards Dodge City where a tornado emergency was declared for the area. Some storm damage was reported on the west side of the city, including a propane leak on a highway nearby.
We quite literally lost track of the number of tornadoes we saw today. Near Dodge City, KS @weathernetwork pic.twitter.com/peXOEIGreL
— Mark Robinson (@StormhunterTWN) May 25, 2016
Torrential downpours in central Kansas caused major flashed flooding due to downed trees backing up sewage systems.
Tornado damage was also reported in Oklahoma Tuesday night and Tulsa's National Weather Service says there was extensive damage to homes in Shamrock and Bristow, southwest of Tulsa.
"An active week continues for a few more days on the Great Plains and the threat still exists during the weekend, but considerably lower than what we have seen during the week," says Weather Network meteorologist Dr. Doug Gillham. "Heat builds in the east with a warm to hot Memorial Day weekend expected for the Eastern U.S.m especially Saturday with record heat possible as highs reach the lower 90s in some areas."
