In most cases, it’s good to be in the loop. Apparently that’s not the case when it comes to certain high-end severe thunderstorm winds, although we’re not talking about your typical loop here.
The National Weather Service has said a serial microburst hit Emporia early Aug. 30 with confirmed winds as high as 93 mph and estimated winds pushing 110 mph. On KVOE’s 8:05 am newscast Friday, Warning Coordination Meteorologist Chad Omitt unveiled a new term — line echo wave pattern, or LEWP — for what smacked Emporia and parts of Lyon and Chase counties shortly after midnight Aug. 30.
The storm produced a wind damage field from five to 10 miles wide and over 20 miles long. It destroyed numerous trees and knocked out power to over 13,000 Westar and Lyon-Coffey customers for much of last weekend. On KVOE’s 7:05 am newscast Friday, City Manager Mark McAnarney said the tree damage resembled some of Emporia’s worst ice storms over the last quarter-century. He thanked residents for helping each other out over the past week.
The Lyon-Chase County Transfer Station had extra hours Friday, Saturday and Sunday and was open on Labor Day. McAnarney says turnout has been large, with over 2,500 customers and 630 tons of just tree debris collected, and he expressed his thanks to Transfer Station employees for their work and extra hours. The Transfer Station perspective on the storm cleanup is our Feel Good Friday focus Friday.
Residents have asked whether the city will have a special tree or limb pickup effort. McAnarney says plans are still under development, but the city may well have a pickup venture driven by volunteers. A decision may be announced Friday.
Several area residents, especially those of Lake Kahola, have struggled to reconcile the damage with straight-line winds as opposed to a possible tornado. Omitt says the damage was consistent with high-end straight-line winds. He says tornado damage typically shows convergence towards the center of the damage path, while wind damage is more spread out and “divergent or radial,” where items are knocked down in the same general direction.
We’ll have updates on the city tree limb decision as warranted on KVOE, KVOE.com and KVOE social media.
