Was it a tornado?

Winds clocked at 76 mph, but no official word yet

Although damage was heavy throughout Lawrence, indicating a tornado, this morning’s storm has not been declared an “official” tornado, according to Jennifer Schack, 6News meteorologist.

“We’re not going to know for awhile because there was not a trained spotter giving us reports,” Schack said.

She said there were also no radar indications of a tornado.

Schack said a trained spotter in the Reno area did report a possible tornado, which was reported by the National Weather Service.

Schack said that winds of up to 76 mph were reported in the city of Lawrence at the height of the storm.

“That’s high enough for a microburst or a weak tornado,” Schack said.

The Fujita Scale for tornadoes gives the following classifications:

¢ FO – 40-72 mph. Light damage; some damage to chimneys, TV antennas, breaks twigs off trees, pushes over shallow-rooted trees.

¢ F1 – 73-112 mph. Moderate damage; peels surface off roofs; windows broken; light trailer homes pushed or turned over; some trees uprooted or snapped; moving automobiles pushed off roadway.

¢ F2- 113-157 mph. Considerable damage; roofs torn off fram houses leaving strong upright walls; weak buildings demolished; trailer houses destroyed; large trees snapped or uprooted; railroad boxcars pushed over; light object missiles generated; cars blow off roadways.

¢ F3 – 158-206 mph. Severe damage; roofs and some walls torn off frame houses; some buildings completely destroyed; trains overturned; steel-framed buildings torn; cars olifted off of the ground; most trees uprooted or snapped and leveled.

¢ F4 – 207-260 mph. Devastaing damage; whole frame houses destroyed leaving downind piles of debris; steel structures badly damaged; trees debarked by small flying debris; cars and trains thrown some distance; large wind blown missiles generated.

¢ F-5- 261-318 mph. Incredible damage; whole fram houses tossed off foundation and blown downwind; steel-reinforced concrete structures badly damaged; automobile-sized missiles generated; incredible phenomena can be expected to occur.