Prowers County Tornado Rated EF0

The tornado was photographed by Damien Esparza from a point east of the Lamar VFW Post on South Memorial Drive.

An area of thunderstorms moving through Prowers County shortly after 2:00 p.m., Tuesday, May 24th, and developed  a brief land spout tornado approximately 5 miles east of Lamar, near the intersection of US Highway 50 and County Road 13.  The tornado lasted for approximately 5 minutes from 2:10 p.m. to 2:15 p.m.  The tornado caused no damage, and therefore, is rated EF0.

The National Weather Service out of Pueblo activated the EAS signal for the area and continued the warning until 3pm that afternoon.  A tornado watch was in effect for the region until 10pm that night.  The storm’s northeasterly path took it into Goodland, KS where tornado warnings were also posted that evening.  The afternoon storm brought brief, heavy rains to Prowers County, along with some pea to nickel sized hail, which caused no damage.

Patients at Prowers Medical Center were briefly moved to the hallways of the hospital from their rooms, away from any damage or injury that could have been caused by broken windows or flying debris.  According to Maxine Montano, PMC Chief Clinical Officer, the move is standard operational procedure to ensure patient safety.

During tornado or other forms of severe weather alerts, seven sirens located around Lamar will be activated from the Lamar Light and Power Company, the one area of the city that is manned 24/7 throughout the year.  The sirens are routinely tested the first Monday of every month at Noon.

By Russ Baldwin