Tornado outbreak of April 13–16, 2012
An impressive low pressure area and associated trough began tracking into the Great Plains on April 13, and a slight risk of severe weather was issued.
For only the second time in history (previously for April 7, 2006), a day two high risk [3] of severe weather was issued by the Storm Prediction Center.
A high-end EF2 tornado struck Creston, Iowa, flipping vehicles and causing major structural damage to homes and other buildings in town.
As this supercell moved into Wichita around 10:15 pm CDT (0315 UTC), another large EF3 wedge tornado touched down and caused major damage in the southeastern part of the city.
[5] Around 10:00 p.m. CDT (0300 UTC), a broken squall line began to form across the eastern portions of the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles; a thunderstorm developed ahead of the northern line segment in northwestern Wheeler County, Texas, at approximately 10:30 p.m. CDT (0330 UTC), and began developing supercell characteristics as it tracked northeastward into the Oklahoma counties of Ellis and Roger Mills.
The cyclic supercell storm produced additional tornadoes as it continued into south-central Kansas, including an EF3 that passed near Argonia and Conway Springs.
By this time, local news stations and storm spotters were reporting a large wedge tornado moving into southeastern Wichita, accompanied by numerous power flashes.
Ruptured gas lines in the mobile home park resulted in a fire, and several residents were left trapped in the rubble, but were later rescued.
Past McConnell Air Force Base, the tornado weakened to EF1 strength and passed near the intersection of Rock Road and East Pawnee Street, snapping power poles and toppling a billboard over onto a nearby building.
Minor tree, fence, and house damage occurred in residential areas along this segment of the path, and an apartment building had a large portion of its roof torn off.
At the East Harry Street and South Webb Road intersection, a QuikTrip, Dillons, Walgreens, and several other businesses sustained EF0 to EF1 damage.
A large ferris wheel was toppled over in the parking lot of Morningstar Community Church, where a fair had been taking place earlier in the day.
After touching down, the tornado rapidly intensified and continued through sparsely populated areas to the northeast of Arnett, destroying two homes and causing lesser damage to a few others.
The tornado reached high-end EF3 strength as it moved through neighborhoods just to the west of 34th Street, where multiple homes had roofs ripped off and sustained collapse of exterior walls.
Farther to the northeast, the tornado maintained its strength as it ripped through residential areas in western Woodward, severely damaging or completely destroying many homes in the vicinity of Cheyenne Drive, Choctaw Court, and Ridgecrest Avenue.
Past this area, the tornado struck the Hideaway Mobile Home Park along 26th Street in the northwestern part of town, resulting in devastating damage.
This was due to lightning strike damage from the previous day sustained to a tower used to activate the local electricity-powered siren warning system.
[37] The Small Business Administration accepted a separate disaster declaration request filed by Governor Fallin for Woodward County on April 26; the declaration will allow the SBA to provide low-interest disaster loans for renters, homeowners, business owners and non-profits to repair or replace storm-damaged property not covered by insurance or other federal assistance programs.
