Wild Kansas Tornado Destroyed Part Of Neighborhood; Drone View Is Incredible

In a still from Reed Timmer's fascinating drone video
of a tornado in Andover, Kansas last Friday, the roofs
of three adjacent houses get sucked up into the 
twister almost simultaneously, center of frame. 
Click on the image to make it bigger and
easier to see.

 Parts of it have been on the news for a couple days now, but you should really check out famed storm chaser Reed Timmer's drone view of a powerful tornado that struck suburbs of Wichita, Kansas on Friday. 

This tornado was different from many you see in the media. Often, tornadoes are partially or fully wrapped up in rain, making them a little difficult or just impossible to see. 

This one, like some you see in the Plains was in clear air. It even looks like the sun was shining on it. 

We also think of major tornadoes as these big, black, wedge-shaped things that roar across the landscape. This was a tall, skinny one that one make an untrained eye think it wouldn't be capable of much damage.

Narrow tornadoes can be incredibly dangerous, though.  The one in Timmer's video shows how powerful they can be.

As horrible as this tornado was, it's fascinating to watch.  I'm making you click on the links to watch it so the clicks go to Timmer's YouTube channel. I don't want to steal his thunder, so to speak. 

Like many strong tornadoes, this one had what are known as suction vortices, which are essentially tornadoes circulating within the main tornado.  Suction vortices are very often what cause the most damage in a tornado.

At the start of the video, you can't really see these suction vortices until they hit a house or building as it mows through Andover, Kansas.

Then the debris and dust makes these vortices obvious.  You can also see the powerful lift this tornado has, lifting roof after roof straight up into the air. At one point, the roofs of three adjacent houses take off almost simultaneously. 

At about 40 to 50 seconds into the video, you see the funnel up above and those suction vortices wrecking the neighborhood. One of those vortices coils up, looking a bit like a curly fry. 

 The first couple of minutes of the video were a wise choice by Timmer, who gives us the same shot three times, one close up, one at mid range and one at further away. This gives you the full perspective on how the tornado behaved in and around Andover. 

This video is going to be studied by meteorologists and structural engineers for years to come. Suction vortices come and go quickly, and I'm sure scientists will be examining this video to learn more about them. 

Those suction vortices are sneaky, too, and should give pause to any storm chasers who want to get too close.  At about 2:47 in, you see the tornado doing its thing, and suddenly, a building and electrical equipment to the left get sucked into the maelstrom. That was a suction vortex that was invisible until building debris got entrained into it. 

Late in Timmer's drone video, you have distant shots of the tornado. You can see how tall, thin, and yes, graceful it was, in a weird sort of way. 

The National Weather Service office in Wichita, Kansas says the tornado was an EF-3 with maximum winds of 165 mph. But you can see from the video how the suction adds to the destruction.  Miraculously, the tornado caused only three injuries and no deaths. Well-timed warnings by the National Weather Service kept the casualty count low. 

The maximum width of the tornado was 440 yards, which isn't huge. And that damage swath encompasses the outer edges of the tornado, where damage wasn't as bad. Judging from videos of the damage, the intense winds that destroyed homes were encompassed an area only about 300 yards wide. 

If Andover, Kansas makes you think of another tornado disaster, you're right. Friday's tornado hit on just two days after the anniversary of an even worse twister that hit Andover and nearby McConnell Air Force Base. 

That tornado, on April 26, 1991 was an F5 that killed 17 people. That 1991 tornado was a much more "traditional" looking one that appeared as a dark wedge that swept through the town.