Ruskin Heights/Hickman Mills Tornado

[simplykristi]

May 20, 2007 marked the 50th anniversary of the tornado that hit the south part of the metro KC area. The tornado was rated an EF5 (in today's standards) in the Hickman Mills/Ruskin Heights area. Thirty-nine people were killed while five hundred people were injured. The tornado formed near Williamsburg, KS and dissipated near Knobtown MO (between Raytown and Lee's Summit MO) This tornado is the single-worst tornado killer in Kansas City history. It's been interesting to read the facts. Please visit the following site to learn more about the tornado and its aftermath: http://www.ruskinheightstornado.org/

[wall_cloud]

its interesting that they called it an EF5 since the EF scale just began on no historical data is being changed to the new system. The legacy fujita scale overestimated the higher end winds so F4-F5 storms will be more rare than before in all likelyhood (thanks Greensburg).

Anyway, here is a good read from the Kansas City NWS office:

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/eax/?n=ruskinheightstornado

[simplykristi]

Under the old system, it was considered an F5.

I was just reading that link and was going to post it just now.