It was 10 years ago a tornado hit south Wichita.
An EF-3 tornado came through the Oaklawn-Sunview neighborhood, causing damage in the Pinaire Mobile Home Park. The storm moved northeast, causing damage to Spirit AeroSystems, the Kansas Aviation Museum, and parts of southeast Wichita. The storm started in Oklahoma before moving into Wichita after dark.
Country music superstar Miranda Lambert was playing to a sold-out crowd that evening downtown at Intrust Bank Arena, and Wichita's annual "Gridiron" comedy show was holding its closing night at the Orpheum Theatre. Lambert's show was interrupted by the tornado warnings, but later resumed. "Gridiron" shut down its production when most of the patrons exited the Orpheum after tornado sirens sounded during Act II.
The tornado left a path of damage starting along 79th Street South in the Haysville area, continuing northeast until it dissipated east of Central & Greenwich in the northeast part of Wichita. Along the way it damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses.
The twister grew to a mile wide as it crossed Highway K-15 and into the Boeing and Spirit Aerosystems areas; damage there was rated at EF-2, as nearly every building on the Spirit complex sustained some damage.
The storm caused EF-1-rated damage at Pawnee & Rock. It then decreased to EF-0 in intensity as it caused damage near Kellogg and Greenwich.
In Sedgwick County, the tornado caused up to a half-billion dollars in damages.
Overall, the violent storm system spawned 43 total tornadoes in multiple states that night.
Other tornadoes were also reported in Kansas that day in Butler, Harper, Sumner, McPherson and Marion counties.
The McPherson-Marion County stovepipe tornado touched down near Moundridge and crossed I-135.
