Tornado in Missouri, October 18, 2004

Name: Tornado in Missouri, October 18, 2004
Start: 2004-10-18T16:10
End: 2004-10-18T16:19
Location: Missouri

October 18, 2004 · NWS LSX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
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 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 St. Louis, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 18, 2:30 PM CST, 1 hour 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 18, 2:30 PM CST, 1 hour 40 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
330 PM CDT MON OCT 18 2004

.DISCUSSION...
ABBREVIATED DISC...SVR WX THRT WL CONT INTO E HALF OF CWA THIS EVE.
DUE TO HVY RAINS OF THIS MRNG...AND STMS TRYING TO TRAIN IN VCNTY OF
WRMFNT...WL ISSUE FLOOD WATCH THROUGH 05Z FOR E 6 COUNTIES.

WL TRY TO GET ADDL DISC ISSUED LATER ON.

&&

.LSX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MO...NONE.
IL...NONE.

&&

TRUETT

Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 18, 11:30 AM CST, 4 hours 40 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
1230 PM CDT MON OCT 18 2004

ILZ058>060-064-065-069-070-074-079-095>102-MOZ018-019-026-027-
034>036-041-042-047>052-059>065-072>075-084-085-099-191100-
ADAMS IL-AUDRAIN-BOND IL-BOONE-BROWN-CALHOUN IL-CALLAWAY-CLINTON IL-
COLE-CRAWFORD-FAYETTE IL-FRANKLIN-GASCONADE-GREENE IL-IRON-JEFFERSON-
JERSEY IL-KNOX-LEWIS-LINCOLN-MACOUPIN IL-MADISON-MADISON IL-MARION-
MARION IL-MONITEAU-MONROE-MONROE IL-MONTGOMERY-MONTGOMERY IL-OSAGE-
PIKE-PIKE IL-RALLS-RANDOLPH IL-REYNOLDS-SHELBY-ST CHARLES-
ST CLAIR IL-ST FRANCOIS-ST LOUIS-ST LOUIS CITY-STE GENEVIEVE-WARREN-
WASHINGTON-WASHINGTON IL-
500 AM CDT MON OCT 18 2004

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PARTS OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN
MISSOURI AS WELL AS WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH
EARLY TONIGHT ACROSS CENTRAL AND EASTERN MISSOURI...AND WEST CENTRAL
AND SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS. WARM UNSTABLE AIR CONTINUES TO MOVE
NORTHWARD ACROSS SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL MISSOURI AHEAD OF A DRY LINE
WHICH HAS ENTERED SOUTHWEST MISSOURI. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE
EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE DRY LINE AND MOVE ACROSS
PARTS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MISSOURI THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE
THROUGH EARLY TONIGHT. THE THREAT WITH THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE
LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...ISOLATED TORNADOES AND DEADLY
LIGHTNING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE AGAIN STARTING LATE WEDNESDAY AND
CONTINUING THROUGH FRIDAY NIGHT AS THE NEXT STORM SYSTEM MOVES
ACROSS THE CENTRAL UNITED STATES.

.SPOTTER ACTIVATION STATEMENT...

STORM SPOTTERS MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING.

RP

In the hours before

Local storm report, Oct 18, 3:31 PM CST, 39 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
431 PM CDT MON OCT 18 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0425 PM     HAIL             3 N BONNE TERRE         37.97N 90.55W
10/18/2004  2.00 INCH        ST. FRANCOIS       MO   BROADCAST MEDIA

&&

CARNEY

Special weather statement, Oct 18, 3:40 PM CST, 30 minutes before

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Local storm report, Oct 18, 3:43 PM CST, 27 minutes before

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Local storm report, Oct 18, 3:52 PM CST, 18 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
452 PM CDT MON OCT 18 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0421 PM     TORNADO          1 N POTOSI              37.95N 90.78W
10/18/2004                   WASHINGTON         MO   TRAINED SPOTTER

            *** 6 INJ *** POSSIBLE TORNADO--ENTIRE BUILDING AT THE
            POTOSI LUMBER CO WAS DESTROYED.

0435 PM     TSTM WND DMG     3 S CENTERVILLE         37.39N 90.96W
10/18/2004                   REYNOLDS           MO   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            TREES DOWN AND GOLFBALL SIZED HAIL ON HWY 21

0435 PM     TORNADO          MINERAL POINT           37.95N 90.72W
10/18/2004                   WASHINGTON         MO   TRAINED SPOTTER

            2 MOBILE HOMES DESTROYED ON HWY E EAST OF POTOSI...AND
            MULTIPLE HOMES WITH ROOFS OFF...SAME LOCATION.

0440 PM     TSTM WND DMG     IRONTON                 37.60N 90.64W
10/18/2004                   IRON               MO   PUBLIC

            PUBLIC REPORTED TREES AND POWERLINES DOWN. NO STRUCTURAL
            DAMAGE...

&&

CARNEY

Local storm report, Oct 18, 3:57 PM CST, 13 minutes before

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Local storm report, Oct 18, 4:09 PM CST, 1 minute before

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The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 129 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:08 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Madison

When: October 18, 4:10 PM CST to 4:19 PM CST
Where: Madison County, 3 mi NNE of Fredericktown
Rating: F1
Path length: 5.5 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 37.583, -90.283

The second tornado in Madison County first caused damage near County Road 217 when it blew off part of the roof of a barn, caused minor roof damage to a home, and downed and snapped off trees. The tornado moved east and destroyed a detached garage at a home on County Road 219 just north of County Road 221. The owner of the home was outside and saw the tornado coming. He moved inside just before the tornado arrived and was not injured. The tornado moved east through fields causing intermittent tree damage. The next significant damage occurred near the end of the tornado's track just north of Higdon along County Road 257. A home had almost all of the roof shingles blown off and a couple of windows blown in. The owner commented that he ended up with about 2 inches of leaves inside his house. A trampoline in the backyard was picked up, blown to the north and wrapped around a tree. A 14 foot fishing boat that was on a pond behind the house was picked up and ended up 100 yards away suspended in some trees.

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 2004 Every state in 2004 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Missouri, 2004 Warnings in Missouri, October 2004

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5427446.