Tornado in Missouri, April 28, 1996

Name: Tornado in Missouri, April 28, 1996
Start: 1996-04-28T01:48
End: 1996-04-28T01:48
Location: Missouri

April 28, 1996 · NWS SGF · 1 event in 1 county or zone

An F1 tornado briefly touched down in the east part of Joplin 3 miles north of I-44 along South Range Line Road. A small strip mall was destroyed.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $1.0 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS SGF wrote it up.

An F1 tornado briefly touched down in the east part of Joplin 3 miles north of I-44 along South Range Line Road. A small strip mall was destroyed. No injuries were reported.

The radar

The Springfield radar (KSGF), 101 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 07:47 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Jasper

When: April 28, 1:48 AM CST
Where: Jasper County, Joplin
Rating: F1
Path length: 0.1 mi
Path width: 50 yd
Property damage: $1.0 million
Coordinates: 37.080, -94.520

What these are

Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Missouri in 1996 Every state in 1996 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Missouri, 1996 Warnings in Missouri, April 1996

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5576780.