An F1 tornado touched down near the Southwest Missouri State University campus at the intersection of Grand and National. The damage path was 100 yards wide and one half mile long as it moved north northeast across National Street.
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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.
The episode as NWS SGF wrote it up.
An F1 tornado touched down near the Southwest Missouri State University campus at the intersection of Grand and National. The damage path was 100 yards wide and one half mile long as it moved north northeast across National Street. The tornado downed trees, blew down power lines, blew out numerous windows, and tore off a roof. 750 people lost power for more than 18 hours. Only minor injuries were reported.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Springfield, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 10, 5:49 AM CST, 4 hours 46 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO 649 AM CDT WED OCT 10 2001 ZONE UPDATE ISSUED TO INCREASE TEMPERATURES IN SOUTHWEST MISSOURI/SOUTHEAST KANSAS COUNTIES. CURRENT READINGS WERE VERY CLOSE TO EXPECTED HIGHS...SO BUMPED THE HIGHS UP A CATEGORY. .SGF... MO...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR WEDNESDAY FOR ZONES MOZ055>057... MOZ066>069...MOZ077>081...MOZ088...MOZ090...MOZ093>094. KS...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR WEDNESDAY FOR ZONES KSZ073...KSZ097... KSZ101. SUTTON
KSZ073-097-101-MOZ055>058-066>071-077>083-088>098-101>106-101800- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO 600 AM CDT WED OCT 10 2001 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING... ...HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE TODAY... ...WINDY CONDITIONS TO PERSIST TODAY... A DEVELOPING STORM SYSTEM IN THE CENTRAL PLAINS WILL CONTINUE TO BRING A VARIETY OF HAZARDOUS WEATHER TO THE MISSOURI OZARKS AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS TODAY. OVERNIGHT...SEVERAL WAVES OF HEAVY RAINFALL MOVED THROUGH MISSOURI AND KANSAS. FOUR TO SIX INCHES OF RAIN WAS ESTIMATED BY RADAR TO HAVE FALLEN ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST MISSOURI DURING THE PRE DAWN HOURS. WHILE THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD DIMINISH THIS MORNING... ANOTHER ROUND OF WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. WINDS ACROSS THE REGION ARE VERY STRONG AND SHOW A FAVORABLE SIGNATURE FOR STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE THE MAIN THREAT...WITH ISOLATED TORNADOES ALSO POSSIBLE. THE PRIME TIME FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE FROM 2 PM TO 8 PM TODAY. HEAVY RAIN WILL ALSO ACCOMPANY THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TODAY. AN ADDITIONAL TWO TO FOUR INCHES OF RAIN WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE REGION BEFORE THE RAIN ENDS THURSDAY. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR LOCATIONS ALONG AND NORTH OF A LINE FROM NEOSHO TO SPRINGFIELD AND LEBANON FOR TODAY. HEAVY RAIN WILL BE POSSIBLE SOUTHEAST OF THIS LINE...HOWEVER GROUND SATURATION WILL BE SLOWER TO DEVELOP DUE TO THE RECENT DRY SPELL. MEANWHILE...A GUSTY SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WIND OF 20 TO 30 MPH WILL ALSO CONTINUE TODAY AS THE STORM SYSTEM ORGANIZES IN THE PLAINS. GUSTS NEAR 40 MPH MAY OCCUR LATE THIS MORNING ACROSS SOUTHEAST KANSAS AND PORTIONS OF WEST CENTRAL MISSOURI. PERSONS DRIVING HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES SHOULD USE CAUTION TODAY...ESPECIALLY ON EAST-WEST ROADS. .EXTENDED OUTLOOK... SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL END FROM WEST TO EAST EARLY THURSDAY...WITH ANOTHER ROUND OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH EARLY SUNDAY. SUTTON
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
1125 AM CDT WED OCT 10 2001
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1049 AM PIERCE CITY MO WIND DAMAGE
10/10/01 LAWRENCE TIN ROOF TORN OFF. TREES
ALSO UPROOTED TO THE EAST
OF PIERCE CITY.
REPORTED BY LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.The Springfield radar (KSGF), 10 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:36 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Missouri in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Missouri, 2001Warnings in Missouri, October 2001
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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5271117.