Here is why I now believe that the lowering I observed looking NNW from a couple miles southwest of Larned was a tornado, probably a continuation of the Frizell tornado. I was not entirely sure at the time, although the lowering, which was nearly to the ground, certainly looked like a tornado to me. Still, I was not sure enough to report it at the time, largely because of the low contrast and partial rain-wrapping. However, I subesquently learned through a great deal of Web searching that one or two other chasers who saw the same feature I saw were quite sure that it was a tornado. This includes the OKweatherwatch.com group, who posted a picture of the same feature I saw from near my location, but with slightly better contrast that certainly appears to show a tornado and they were sure that it was. There is also video (likely taken from Larned) of what definitely appears to be a tornado that includes, in the background, audio in which a spotter on the local ham radio network reported a tornado just west of the State Hospital. This is the approximate end point of the Frizell tornado according to the official track, but in the video the tornado appears to be ongoing. Also a front-page photo in the Larned newspaper, taken looking due west along route 156, appears to at least show the large lowering very close to the ground if not on the ground, although the ground view is obstructed by buildings. For all these reasons, I think that what I observed was the tail end of the Frizell tornado, probably (as both okweatherwatch and chaser Joshua Nall note) in the occluding stage. I also think that it is likely that the tornado continued a little farther past the official end point of the track, likely on the ground intermittently north of the State Hospital and possibly as far as route 156 near or a little west of the Larned cemetery.

As far as I know, the NWS did not ever do a damage survey in this area, and apparently based the track reported in the Storm Events Database (approximate track mapped above) on reports they received from a chaser who were on the tornado near Frizell. At the time of these reports, I was south of the tornado and from my viewpoint the tornado was completely obscured by rain. The tornado was rated EF-1 with a path length of 3.3 miles, with that official path ending about a mile west of the State Hospital, or about a mile or two short of the location where it likely was when I and the okweatherwatch group saw it. I only saw the lowering associated with the tornado when it emerged from the rain as I was driving toward Larned, a couple miles southwest of town. I immediately stopped and videoed the lowering as the Larned sirens blared, looking roughly to my northwest or NNW with the lowering moving, as I watched it, to a position to my N or NNW. It certainly looked like a tornado to me, but I was unsure at the time due to low contrast and wrapping rain.

Because of the corroborating reports from other chasers and a local spotters, and the nature of the lowering I observed (very low to the ground with some rotation), I am convinced enough to count this as a tornado. Additionally, I think it is almost certain that this was a continuation of the Frizell tornado, and it certainly was associated with the same circulation as that tornado. I think what happened was that the Frizell tornado continued, at least intermittently, to where I and the okweatherwatch team saw it, likely N or NNE of the State Hospital. I was very concerned, as were local spotters, that it might continue into Larned - in fact, the sirens were blown three times in about ten minutes - but fortunately the tornado dissipated before reaching town, and probably would have passed just northwest of town had it stayed on the ground longer.