Midwest Chasing

Below is a single radar image from around 633 pm showing the circulation that produced the tornado as it moved near and through the Little Sioux Boy Scout camp between Little Sioux and Blencoe Iowa.

Tim Russert, a political lifer who made a TV career of his passion with unrelenting questioning of the powerful and influential, died of a heart attack Friday in the midst of a presidential campaign he’d covered with trademark intensity. Praise poured in from the biggest names in politics, some recalling their own meltdown moments on his hot seat.

I’ve watched his show from time to time and he always seemed like a stand up guy.

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED  
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 516  
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK  
750 PM CDT THU JUN 12 2008  
  
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A  
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF   
  
       SOUTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL IOWA  
       NORTHERN ILLINOIS  
       EXTREME NORTHEAST MISSOURI  
       SOUTHERN WISCONSIN  
       LAKE MICHIGAN  
  
EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY MORNING FROM 750 PM  
UNTIL 200 AM CDT.  
  
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND  
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE  
AREAS.  
  
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 60 STATUTE  
MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF  
RACINE WISCONSIN TO 55 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF BURLINGTON IOWA.   
FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH  
OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU6).  
  
REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR  
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH  
AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR  
THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS  
AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.  
  
OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO  
WATCH NUMBER 513. WATCH NUMBER 513 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER  
750 PM CDT. CONTINUE...WW 514...WW 515...  
  
DISCUSSION...BAND OF STRONG/SEVERE STORMS IS LOCATED FROM SRN WI  
SWWD INTO SERN IA...WITH ISOLATED SUPERCELLS EVIDENT IN RADAR  
IMAGERY.  AIR MASS TO THE SOUTH OF THE CONVECTION REMAINS WARM AND  
MOIST WITH SURFACE TEMPERATURES IN THE UPPER 80S AND DEW POINTS IN  
THE 65-70 RANGE.  THIS IS CONTRIBUTING TO AN UNSTABLE ENVIRONMENT  
WITH MLCAPE OF 1000-1500 J/KG.  WINDS VEER AND INCREASE WITH HEIGHT  
ACROSS THE REGION ALONG THE SERN PERIPHERY OF PRIMARY MID/UPPER  
LEVEL JET STREAK LIFTING NEWD ACROSS IA AND MN...RESULTING IN STRONG  
DEEP LAYER SHEAR AND SUFFICIENT LOW LEVEL SHEAR TO SUPPORT SEVERE  
STORMS INCLUDING A FEW SUPERCELLS.  DAMAGING WIND GUSTS AND LARGE  
HAIL...ALONG WITH ISOLATED TORNADOES...WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH  
STRONGEST CELLS.  ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE SPREADING  
NEWD/ENEWD TONIGHT...WITH POSSIBILITY OF ADDITIONAL SEVERE STORMS  
DEVELOPING OVER NRN MO AND SPREADING INTO SWRN PART OF THE WW LATER  
THIS EVENING.  

The NWS Topeka has completed the storm survey for the Manhattan area.  The maximum intensity of this tornado rated EF4.  EF4 damage occurred at Amherst Ave. and Peachtree circle and had a path width of 1/4 mile at this point.  The track near Manhattan is plotted on the image below.

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED  
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 513  
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK  
105 PM CDT THU JUN 12 2008  
  
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A  
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF   
  
       EASTERN IOWA  
       NORTHERN ILLINOIS  
       NORTHWEST INDIANA  
       NORTHEAST MISSOURI  
       SOUTHERN WISCONSIN  
       LAKE MICHIGAN  
  
EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 105 PM UNTIL  
800 PM CDT.  
  
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND  
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE  
AREAS.  
  
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 100 STATUTE  
MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES WEST OF BURLINGTON  
IOWA TO 30 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF MILWAUKEE WISCONSIN.  FOR A  
COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE  
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU3).  
  
REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR  
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH  
AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR  
THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS  
AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.  
  
DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO SLOWLY INCREASE ACROSS  
EASTERN IA...SOUTHERN WI...AND NORTHERN IL THIS AFTERNOON AS AIRMASS  
DESTABILIZES AND CAP WEAKENS.  EVENTUALLY SCATTERED SUPERCELL AND  
BOWING STRUCTURES ARE EXPECTED TO EVOLVE WITH A RISK OF DAMAGING  
WINDS...ISOLATED TORNADOES...AND HAIL. 

A tornado between two and four blocks wide touched down near the Manhattan Regional airport late night Wednesday and bounced across Manhattan, the Kansas State University campus, and then went back up into the clouds near Moore Hall on the campus. It inflicted tens of millions of dollars of damage — at least $20 million on the campus alone, authorities said.

Officials say there are no reported deaths but are continuing search-and-rescue efforts. A shelter is set up at Pottorf Hall in CiCo Park for those displaced. The Red Cross is assisting; the National Guard is also being called in. FEMA is on site.

No confirmed totals are available, but 30 homes in the Miller Ranch area — in the southwest portion of the city — have been flattened, with only foundations remaining. Many more are severely damaged. The University Heights area near E.J. Frick Drive was also hard-hit.

Business in the area of Amherst and Seth Child Road were hit; Waters True Value Hardware was destroyed. The sign from that business crashed through Gymnastics Plus, just to the east. The owner of Waters says they will rebuild. At Little Apple Toyota-Honda, windows were blown out and cars flipped over. The structure is still standing. The Aztec storage facility was heavily damaged, with property strewn for great distances.

Some looting has been reported in that commercial area off Amherst; two people have been arrested, police said.

On the campus, there was major damage to numerous buildings. A tornado touched down on Durland Hall, the engineering building, with heavy damage to the following: Ward, Moore Hall, Durland, Umberber, Fiedler and Cardwell. K-State police chief Ronnie Grice estimated damage at KSU at $20 million. President Jon Wefald has driven to Topeka to brief the Board of Regents this morning. Classes have been called off for the day. Facilities workers were asked to come to work; new student orientation was moved to Bramlage. Power was out on the main campus this morning. There was major tree damage.

There were 1,900 homes still without power this morning.

Cleanup was expected to take days.

Both U.S. Senators from Kansas, as well as Gov. Sebelius, are expected here tonight.

The same storm devastated Chapman, about 30 miles west of Manhattan. One person was killed there. Authorities are estimating 60 to 70 percent of the community was damaged.

http://breaking.themercury.com/

..A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1130 PM CDT FOR
SOUTHWEST POTTAWATOMIE AND EASTERN RILEY COUNTIES…

AT 1105 PM CDT…NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR AND STORM
SPOTTERS WERE TRACKING A LARGE TORNADO IN NORTHEAST
MANHATTAN…MOVING NORTHEAST AT 32 MPH.

LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE…
AREAS EAST AND NORTHEAST OF MANHATTAN INCLUDING TUTTLE CREAK STATE
PARK AND RURAL AREAS OF SOUTHWEST POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY.

  
1103 PM     TORNADO          MANHATTAN               39.18N 96.57W   
06/11/2008                   RILEY              KS   BROADCAST MEDIA   
  
            TORNADO OCCURRING IN MANHATTAN VIA CHANNEL 49 LIVE   
            BROADCAST OF TORNADO.