Tornadoes and Hail in Missouri, December 31, 2010

Thunderstorm winds blew down numerous large tree limbs and part of the roof of a barn was blown off. Some of the metal landed in the trees nearby. Several windows in the nearby house were broken by the thunderstorm winds.

The tornado touched down near Highway F and one quarter mile south of Jakes Prairie Road. Damage consisted of tree branches snapped. The next sign of damage was nearly two miles northeast of the first sign of damage, southwest of Four Mile Road and Brush Creek. There was some large tree limb damage west of the road along the creek. However a greater degree of tree damage occurred along Brush Creek east of Four Mile Road. This area of tree damage extended over 2 miles to the east-northeast. The width of the damage over this area was over 100 yards wide.

The next point of damage was on Highway 19, half a mile south of State Highway C. Minor tree damage was noted at this location. Tree limbs up to six inches were snapped half way up the tree trunk. The tornado traveled northeast and damaged one home and one farmstead on Taylor road. The owner of the house that was damaged described the tornado as a swirling rain, which confirms that the tornado was completely rain wrapped. The house suffered damage to the roof and patio. Several medium to large trees were snapped half way up the trunk to the west of the home, which is about 75 to 100 yards away. The tornado crossed Taylor road and damaged several trees on a hill north of Taylor Road. Some of these trees were snapped near the base of the trunk. The tornado then hit the first of two more farmsteads. Several panels from a barn's roof were peeled off, but the overall structure was intact. The roofs of three machine sheds were also removed and tossed to the northeast. The width of the damage area was approximately 75 yards wide.

The tornado skipped and caused minor damage to a barn and silo on a second farmstead on Ackermann Lane just south of Highway C. There were a few trees uprooted and large limbs were snapped over the upper parts of several medium size trees. Additional tops from trees were snapped a third of a mile southwest of Highways C and CC. The tornado then destroyed an evergreen tree along Highway C a quarter of a mile east of the intersection of Highways C and CC before lifting and dissipating.

A tornado touched down along Country Club Road and produced minor tree damage. It continued to the northeast and struck Rivendell Farms, a horse farm, where it removed the majority of the roof from a large metal pole barn and caused minor injuries to one horse. Another outbuilding sustained roof damage and the residence had some shingles blown off. Also, a thirty five foot radio tower was blown down. The damage to the pole barn is rated EF1 intensity while the rest of the damage at this location is EF0. The tornado crossed Country Club Road near a sharp curve to the west. A house had shingles missing at this location as well as minor tree damage. The tornado lifted just past this point.

A tornado formed near the intersection of Country Club Road and Country Club Lane where it blew over a road sign and produced minor trim damage to a home. The tornado continued to the northeast and passed through a new subdivision and produced minor tree damage. The tornado lifted before reaching Highway 47.

The tornado touched down around three quarters of a mile southwest of Bruns Bridge on Mill Hill Road and four tenths of a mile east of the northern end of Ely Road, within the Meramec River valley. The tornado moved rapidly northeast at 50 mph crossing the Meramec River six times while producing extensive tree damage along its entire path to Robertsville. Large sections of trees were completely leveled within wooded areas in rural southeast Franklin County. Over two dozen structures were also damaged along the path to the southwest of Robertsville, including one house that was totally destroyed at the intersection of Eagle Ridge Road and Woods Creek Road, and another building on south Oak Drive. In Robertsville, seven homes were damaged on Hayfield Drive in the Hayfield Estates subdivision, with two sustaining significant damage. The tornado then hit the Shiloh Baptist Church causing severe damage to its west facing wall, and leveling the old church sanctuary just north of the church. The tornado then destroyed a building at the intersection of Route O and Route N as it exited town. The tornado weakened some as it moved northeast of Robertsville moving across the southeast portion of the Robertsville State Park and crossing Highway N just south of Mueller Road, about six tenths of a mile north of Catawissa. The tornado then continued northeast, crossing Solidarity Drive, which is on the Franklin/Jefferson county line, into Jefferson County.

A tornado touched down on the Missouri River flood plain south of Augusta Bottom Road. A barn was knocked down along August Bottom Road and had part of its roof thrown across the road. The tornado travelled north northeast up the bluff towards Highway 94. A tree was uprooted and a house sustained minor exterior damage on the south side of Highway 94. The tornado crossed Highway 94 and removed part of the metal roof of an outbuilding. The roof debris was blown several hundred yards from the structure. Some of the sheet metal was found in a tree line well north of the building where the tornado lifted.

The tornado initially touched down northeast of Highway 30 and County Road HH in southeast Franklin County. Several medium size tree limbs were snapped in the upper parts of the trees. The width of the tree limb damage was 20 yards. Further to the northeast, a barn sustained moderate roof damage on Woodland Road. The tornado then skipped northeast and moved into northwest Jefferson County.

The tornado skipped northeast and moved into northwest Jefferson County. Additional medium to large tree limbs were snapped while some medium size trees were uprooted along the Dittmer-Catawissa Road or 3 miles northwest of Dittmer. As the tornado continued to skip northeast, several large trees including large pine trees were snapped at the base or uprooted on Highway NN or 3 miles north of Dittmer. The tree damage was on a ridge crest along Highway NN. The damage was rated EF1 at this location. The damage width was approximately 50 yards. The tornado moved northeast and caused minor tree damage on Dutch Creek Road 1.5 miles southwest of Byrnesville. The tornado then lifted and dissipated.

Hail up to one inch in diameter fell in a swath over northwestern Lincoln county. In some spots the hail was covering the ground.

The tornado crossed Solidarity Drive from Franklin County into Jefferson County and continued to the northeast. The path narrowed as it crossed Highway F just west of Lake Cattails. The tornado finally lifted around 1135 am near the northeast corner of Lake Cattails, 2 miles southeast of Pacific. The damage along this segment consisted of snapped trees, tree limbs and downed trees, and missing or damaged shingles on a few homes.

The tornado touched down just northwest of the intersection of Manchester Road and Birchwood Drive. The tornado traveled to the northeast around 45 mph crossing Kehrs Mill Road, passing through the east side of the Ballwin Golf Course, then crossing Holloway Road and Baxter Road. The tornado lifted just east of the intersection of Brass Lamp Drive and Morewood Court. There were numerous occurrences of tree damage along the tornado path including snapped trees and tree branches as well as uprooted trees. Nearly three dozen homes sustained damage, although the vast majority of this damage was superficial consisting of damaged fascia, soffit and missing/damaged shingles.

The tornado initially touched down at 11:48 AM approximately one mile east of Murphy, Missouri on W. Lakewood Drive in far northern Jefferson County. The damage path was 40 yards wide. The tornado's second touchdown occurred at the Jefferson, St. Louis County Line at Delmar Gardens on Arbor Terrace. Small trees and minor roof damage occurred at Delmar Gardens. The damage path was 50 yards wide and rated EF0. The tornado continued to the northeast into St. Louis County.

The tornado's second touchdown occurred at the Jefferson, St. Louis County Line at Delmar Gardens on Arbor Terrace. Small trees and minor roof damage occurred at Delmar Gardens. The damage path was 50 yards wide and rated EF0.

The tornado continued to skip northeast along Highway 30, in St. Louis County, through a large subdivision in which many homes sustained minor roof and tree damage, however three homes on the east end of the subdivision sustained both siding damage and a greater degree of roof damage. The width of the damage area was 100 yards. Damage intensity over much of the subdivision was EF0, except for the three homes, this damage intensity was rated EF1.

The tornado crossed Highway 141 just north of Highway 30. A 2007 Honda CR-V was driving northbound on Highway 141 when the tornado picked it up and slammed it sideways into a wall along the highway. The occupant, a 70 year old woman, sustained major injuries and died about eleven days later from her injuries. The tornado then hit a church, elementary school and parsonage, which sustained various degrees of damage with the parsonage having the highest degree of damage. Most of the roof was removed and one wall collapsed. Three trees sustained substantial damage in which one tree was partially debarked. Damage intensity was rated EF2 while the damage width was 100 yards.

The tornado moved through the Fenton City Park and crossed the Meramec River half mile north of Highway 30. Much of the tree damage was minor over this area. The tornado paralleled Watson Road and crossed it near Bond Road where three separate large trees damaged a house, vehicle and garage.

The tornado continued northeast and crossed Interstate 270, two miles southeast of Interstate 44. Just east of I-270 the tornado paralleled Old Watson Road in which an intermittent path of damage was observed. One home northeast of I-270 sustained minor roof damage and a second home further northeast experienced shingle and tree damage. The damage over this area was rated EF1 while the damage width was 50 yards.

At approximately 11:56 AM the tornado rapidly intensified as it neared Lindbergh Blvd. Many trees in Watson Trail Park were snapped or uprooted. Seven homes along Old Watson Road sustained varying degrees of damage. Peak intensity was EF3 with 145 mph winds. Two homes had the roofs removed and most of the exterior walls collapsed.

Several homes along Court Drive sustained significant damage. The worst damage occurred on the east end of Court Drive in which four homes had large portions of the roof removed and one had several walls collapsed. Damage intensity was rated EF3 with wind speeds near 150 mph.

On Lindbergh Blvd, one home was completely demolished and moved less than 50 yards from the foundation. A brick veneer garage was also destroyed by the tornado. Further north on Lindbergh a medical facility also sustained heavy damage. Damage over this area was rated EF3, but the demolished home was rated high-end EF3. Damage over this area was a quarter of a mile wide.

The tornado crossed Lindbergh near Court Drive and crossed over a strip mall. Two cars and a delivery truck were tipped over in the parking lot. Several windows were blown in on the stores in the strip mall and a greenhouse behind and adjacent to the mall suffered roof and water pipe damage. The tornado made a turn to the east-northeast and crossed the east end of Woodfox Drive. About a dozen pine trees along the east end of Woodfox Drive were blown over, all lying to the north. Eight homes on Woodfox Drive suffered roof damage and several trees were either pushed over or snapped off about halfway up the trunk. The tornado crossed Woodpark Drive were it caused roof damage to three more homes and downed a large oak tree. One home had the roof lifted and partially removed. The damage path width from Woodfox to Woodpark was 300 yards wide and was rated EF1.

The tornado then turned a bit to the northeast and crossed Eggeling Lane and Gladlea Drive. On Eggeling Lane, four homes suffered roof damage and several trees were downed. On Gladlea Drive, three homes suffered roof damage and several more trees were downed. This damage path was 150 yards wide and rated EF0. The tornado crossed East Watson between Lynn Lane, Watson Woods Court, and Kathy Court. On Lynn Lane, a couple of trees were snapped off and two homes suffered roof damage and had windows blown in. This portion of the damage path was 100 yards wide and rated EF1.

The tornado crossed over Kathy Court and Fern Glen Drive. Some large tree branches were broken which took down some power lines. This damage was rated EF0 and the damage path was 100 yards wide.

The tornado continued northeast and crossed the area near Maebern Terrace, Sturdy Drive and Crestwood Lane. At Sturdy and Maebern Terrace, two homes suffered roof damage with one home having the roof lifted and partially removed. A couple of large trees were also downed in this area. This damage was EF1 and 100 yards wide. The tornado continued northeast to Watson Road with minor tree and roof damage noted. Six power poles were pushed over along Watson Road. The tornado continued northeast with additional damage to trees and roofs until it weakened and lifted at the intersection of Rayburn Avenue and S. Sappington Road.

Thunderstorm winds blew down numerous large tree limbs.

Sixty mile per hour winds measured at the intersection of Chippewa Street and S. Kingshighway Blvd.

The tornado touched down near the intersection of North Taylor Avenue and Washington Avenue in the Lewis Place neighborhood. It traveled to the northeast around 50 mph through The Ville and North Riverfront neighborhoods, then lifted just north of Fairground Park. Numerous homes sustained roof damage, with several homes sustaining near total loss of their roofs.