Tornado traveled from Shawnee to Kansas City during overnight storms
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- EF-0 tornado tracked 8 miles from Shawnee to KC’s Westport around 11:34–11:45 p.m.
- Damage survey found peak winds near 75 mph and a maximum width of about 50 yards.
- Storm system produced pea-size hail and downed trees; no injuries or deaths reported.
The National Weather Service reports that an EF-0 tornado began in Shawnee and traveled about eight miles before ending near Kansas City’s Westport neighborhood Friday night.
Meteorologists said the tornado touched down in northern Shawnee around 11:34 p.m. and moved through Merriam, Wyandotte County and across Interstate 35 before making its way to Kansas City.
The short-lived tornado ended around 11:45 p.m.
A meteorologist said the tornado was part of a storm system that came through late Friday night, which lingered in the metro roughly between 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 p.m. A tornado watch was issued around 8:15 p.m. for the Kansas City metro.
“Those storms at that point in time had some very small hail, pea-size,” said Allan Curtis, a national weather service meteorologist.
“The main threat that they carried was winds,” Curtis said. “There was just the one tornado warning which encompassed that EF-0, and as it moved across the downtown area and in the east side of the metro, that threat subsided.”
The tornado had peak winds of around 75 miles per hour, according to a preliminary damage survey. The maximum width of the tornado is estimated to be around 50 yards.
No injuries or deaths were reported.
Accompanying its announcement of the tornado, the weather service posted on social media pictures of downed trees at homes shared by residents near the tornado’s path.
One of the photos showed a tree that fell onto a truck and home in Merriam.
