Deadly weekend tornado in Sedgwick County given preliminary rating of EF-2
A tornado that left one person dead in northern Sedgwick County over the weekend was an EF-2 with estimated peak wind speeds of 135 mph, according to preliminary information from the National Weather Service in Wichita.
The tornado’s path length was .11 miles and its maximum width was 50 yards, forecasters say. It touched down for up to two minutes, from 1:14 a.m. to 1:16 a.m. Sunday.
Information could change as the weather service collects additional data, forecasters said.
Ricky L. Schale, 64, died in the storm. He was the sole occupant of the house hit by the tornado, the Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office said Monday.
Authorities on Sunday said emergency personnel responded to the report of a collapsed building in the area of 125th Street North and I-135 around 2:15 a.m. Sunday after a lineman working a power outage call saw that a home had been blown off its foundation.
“Sedgwick County Fire District 1 crews arrived and found debris from apparent storm damage. A patient was located during the debris search and pronounced dead on scene by Sedgwick County EMS,” Sedgwick County said in a news release.
According to the Enhanced Fujita, or EF, Scale, an EF-2 tornado is considered a “significant tornado” with estimated wind speeds between 111 and 135 mph. EF-2 tornadoes are powerful enough to tear roofs off of framed homes, demolish mobile homes, snap and uproot large trees, tip over boxcars and cause other considerable damage.
This story was originally published June 22, 2026 at 11:01 AM.
