Missouri, 2002Tornadoes in Missouri, April 24, 2002
April 24, 2002 · NWS PAH · 2 events in 2 counties and zones
2 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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
Open the live radar over this ground
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 16
- Property damage
- $45 million
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 2
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 forecasters said that day
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 Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 24, 2:15 PM CST, 58 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 24, 2:15 PM CST, 58 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
315 PM CDT WED APR 24 2002
WILL KEEP DISCUSSION SHORT DUE TO SVR WX AND GRID TRANSFER PROBLEMS
IN IFPS.
CURRENT FCST WILL TREND SVR POTENTIAL EWD THROUGH CWA THROUGH 03Z.
THREAT SHOULD DIMINISH MARKEDLY FROM 03Z TO 06Z...AS FROPA MOVES
EAST OF FCST AREA. GIVE HIGH PWS...SUSPECT LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN WILL
ALSO BE A THREAT WITH THE SCATTERED WIND/HAIL DAMAGE POTENTIAL.
AFTER TONIGHT...I WILL KEEP MENTION OF SHWRS ONLY FOR FRIDAY...WITH
A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SATURDAY. I INCREASED POP FOR
MONDAY INTO TUESDAY PCPN EVENT...AS MEDIUM RANGE ENSEMBLES STILL
SHOW A FOCUSED BOUNDARY AND LIFT OVER THE AREA. ALTHOUGH A SMALL
CHANCE OF PCPN IS POSSIBLE ON WEDNESDAY...WILL KEEP IT DRY AT THIS
TIME.
FOR MAX/MIN TEMPS...WENT SLIGHTLY WARMER THAN MAV GUIDANCE IN SHORT
TERM...THEN SLIGHTLY COOLER THAN MEX /NOW AVN EXTENDED/ MOS GUIDANCE.
MANUALLY GENERATED ZONES SHOULD BE AVAILABLE NO LATER THAN 4 PM. CCF
WILL DELAYED A LITTLE LONGER.
.PAH...NONE.
SMITH
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Apr 24, 11:22 AM CST, 3 hours 51 minutes before
ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087-100-
107>112-114-242105-
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
1222 PM CDT WED APR 24 2002
...UPDATED HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...WESTERN KENTUCKY...AND SOUTHWEST INDIANA...
THREATS...
A RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXISTS OVER THE ENTIRE QUAD STATE
REGION THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY TONIGHT. THUNDERSTORMS WITH THE
POTENTIAL OF DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL AND THE POTENTIAL FOR
ISOLATED TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON...INTO THE EARLY
EVENING HOURS.
DISCUSSION...
THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED OVERNIGHT AND MOVED ACROSS SOUTHEAST
MISSOURI...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND EXTREME SOUTHERN ILLINOIS. THIS
STALLED THE NORTHWARD MOVEMENT OF A WARM FRONT ACROSS THE OUTLOOK
AREA. THIS WARM FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL BEGIN TO MOVE NORTHWARD ACROSS
THE OUTLOOK AREA DURING THE EARLY AFTERNOON...REACHING NEAR A
PERRYVILLE MISSOURI...MARION ILLINOIS TO HENDERSON KENTUCKY LINE
AROUND 4 PM.
WARM...MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR IS EXPECTED SOUTH OF THE WARM FRONT...
WITH TEMPERATURES EXPECTED TO RISE INTO THE UPPER 70S AND LOWER
80S. AS THE COLD FRONT MOVES INTO SOUTHEAST MISSOURI AND SOUTHWEST
ILLINOIS THIS AFTERNOON...THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL
INCREASE DRAMATICALLY. THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL THEN SPREAD EASTWARD
INTO SOUTHWEST INDIANA AND WESTERN KENTUCKY THROUGH THE EARLY
EVENING.
INITIALLY...THE GREATEST THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER THIS AFTERNOON
WILL STRETCH FROM NEAR PERRYVILLE AND CHARLESTON MISSOURI...EAST TO
CARBONDALE AND HARRISBURG ILLINOIS...AND ONWARD TO HENDERSON AND
SMITHLAND KENTUCKY.
THE MAIN LIMITING FACTOR TO THE COVERAGE OF THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
TODAY WILL BE THE AMOUNT OF CLOUDS LEFT OVER FROM THUNDERSTORMS THIS
MORNING. THE MORE SUNSHINE AVAILABLE THIS AFTERNOON...THE GREATER
THE THREAT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL FORM.
SPOTTER ACTIVATION...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NECESSARY THIS AFTERNOON AND
EARLY THIS EVENING. SPOTTERS IN SOUTHEAST MISSOURI AND SOUTHWEST
ILLINOIS SHOULD MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR ANY CHANGES IN THIS
DEVELOPING SEVERE WEATHER SITUATION.
&&
SMITH
Local storm report, Apr 24, 2:59 PM CST, 14 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
359 PM CDT WED APR 24 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0345 PM DAHLGREN IL 1.00 INCH HAIL
04/24/02 HAMILTON REPORTED BY STATE
TROOPER
0351 PM FAIRFIELD IL 1.00 INCH HAIL
04/24/02 WAYNE REPORTED BY EMA
0326 PM DIX IL 1.75 INCH HAIL
04/24/02 JEFFERSON REPORTED BY DEPUTYLocal storm report, Apr 24, 3:04 PM CST, 9 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
404 PM CDT WED APR 24 2002
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0402 PM FAIRFIELD IL 0.75 INCH HAIL
04/24/02 WAYNE REPORTED BY EVANSVILLE
MEDIATornado, Carter
- When
- April 24, 3:13 PM CST to 3:45 PM CST
- Where
- Carter County, Van Buren
- Rating
- F4
- Path length
- 20.5 mi
- Path width
- 300 yd
- Injuries
- 2 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $15 million
- Reported by
- NWS STORM SURVEY
- Coordinates
- 37.000, -91.017
The tornado damage path began on the west side of Van Buren, right along the Current River, and crossed U.S. Route 60 very close to the Current River bridge. Two businesses in Van Buren, a lodge and a restaurant, were heavily damaged by F-2 intensity winds. The tornado travelled southeast across hilly and forested terrain until reaching the community of Ellsinore. Damage on the south side of Ellsinore was severe, where about 7 businesses were destroyed. Most of the damage at Ellsinore, which was inflicted by F-4 intensity winds, occurred along and near U.S. Highway 60. Across Carter County, 13 homes were destroyed and 12 homes suffered major damage. The tornado then moved into the Mark Twain National Forest and crossed into Butler County north of Highway 60.
Tornado, Butler
- When
- April 24, 3:45 PM CST to 4:18 PM CST
- Where
- Butler County, 11 mi W of Hendrickson
- Rating
- F4
- Path length
- 20 mi
- Path width
- 650 yd
- Injuries
- 14 direct, 0 indirect
- Property damage
- $30 million
- Reported by
- NWS STORM SURVEY
- Coordinates
- 36.900, -90.683
The tornado crossed into Butler County in the Mark Twain National Forest, then proceded east-southeast, passing 6 to 7 miles north of Poplar Bluff. An upscale residential subdivision beyond the northern outskirts of Poplar Bluff, just off U.S. Route 67, received extensive damage. At least two well-constructed homes were levelled by peak winds estimated around 210 MPH. A total of 50 homes were destroyed in Butler County, 16 others received major damage, and 30 homes received minor damage. Most of the damaged homes were north of Poplar Bluff. Total damage figures for Butler County included timber losses in the national forest. The total number of injuries requiring hospital care that were directly attributed to the storm was 16. Five of the injured were admitted in critical condition. There were no fatalities from the storm. A woman who lived off U.S. Highway 67 took shelter in her bathtub. She reported that she and the bathtub were blown about 200 feet. She was reportedly found in the median of the highway. She was treated for a cracked sternum, broken ribs, a broken toe, and bruised lungs. In another incident on Highway 67, a large chunk of asphalt was blown through a vehicle's window, striking one of the people inside. The car was extensively damaged when it was blown off the road, but the 3 people inside received only cuts and bruises.
- 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.
- Tornado in Missouri, April 24, 20023 injured · F2 · 1 event
- Hail in Illinois, April 24, 2002$2.0 million · 2 in hail · 5 events
- Hail in Indiana, April 24, 2002$2.0 million · 1.75 in hail · 1 event
- Hail in Illinois, April 24, 2002$1.0 million · 1.75 in hail · 3 events
- Hail in Illinois, April 24, 2002$750,000 · 1.75 in hail · 1 event
- Hail in Illinois, April 24, 2002$750,000 · 1.75 in hail · 1 event
- Hail in Illinois, April 24, 2002$750,000 · 1.75 in hail · 1 event
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Tennessee, April 24, 2002$185,000 · 1.75 in hail · 19 events
- Hail in Illinois, April 24, 2002$300,000 · 1.75 in hail · 1 event
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Iowa, April 24, 2002$74,000 · 1.75 in hail · 11 events
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Tennessee, April 24, 2002$45,000 · 1 in hail · 13 events
- Hail and Damaging Wind in Missouri, April 24, 20021 injured · $20,000 · 2.75 in hail · 16 events
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: 5292196, 5292197.