In the afternoon hours of April 26, 1991, a large and devastating tornado moved 46 miles (74 km) through areas southeast of Wichita, located in the state of Kansas.

After leaving Haysville in ruins, the tornado struck several residential subdivisions in eastern Wichita, where four people were killed.

A short time later, the tornado dissipated, tracking a total of 46 miles (74 km) over a period spanning almost an hour and a half.

[2][3] Through the morning hours, an 850 mb or approximately 5,000 ft (1,525 m) low-level jet of up to 60 kn (70 mph; 110 km/h) overspread regions from south-central Kansas northward into eastern Nebraska.

[4] A surface low-pressure area existed over southwestern Nebraska, supporting a dry line southward into Texas and a warm front southeastward across eastern sections of Kansas and Oklahoma.

[2] Despite early failure at convective initiation, supercell thunderstorms rapidly erupted along the dryline during the afternoon hours as the jet streak propagated into the Great Plains, resulting in a regional outbreak of tornadoes stretching from Texas to Iowa.

At 6:05 p.m. CDT (23:05 UTC), the National Weather Service issued a statement urging residents in Haysville, Derby, and Mulvane to seek shelter.

In eastern Wichita, some well-built houses in the Greenwich Heights Subdivision were completely leveled, indicative of strong F3 to F4 damage.

[7] At 6:24 p.m. CDT (23:24 UTC), the violent tornado began to drastically widen as it struck the McConnell Air Force Base, narrowly missing a lineup of 10 B-1B bombers each worth $280 million, 2 of which were equipped with nuclear warheads.

[8]At 6:31 p.m. CDT (23:31 UTC), with the sirens not functional, the police drove through the Golden Spur Mobile Home Park and through the town warning residents to seek shelter.

10 minutes later, the now large wedge-stovepipe hybrid tornado entered southern Andover and began to impact the mobile home park, which ultimately sustained a direct hit.

[11] Andover and surrounding areas were heavily damaged by the tornado, which carved a 46 miles (74 km) path through Sedgwick and Butler counties over a duration of one hour and twenty-five minutes.

In a National Weather Service post-event document released in December 1991, the curators noted that "the mobile home devastation was some of the worst that this surveyor has ever seen".