Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 1995
F1 tornado, Waynesville, Missouri, May 18, 1995
This F1 tornado ran 1.0 miles across Pulaski County on May 18, 1995, touching down at 10:25 AM CDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody and injured 2, and did $5,000 to $50,000 of property damage.
The rating scale
Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.
F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mphthis tornado
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
F2113 to 157 mph
Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.
F3158 to 206 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
F5261 to 318 mph
Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.
Unrated
The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.
The record
- Rating
- F1
- Date
- May 18, 1995
- Touchdown
- 10:25 AM CDT (15:25 UTC)
- Path length
- 1.0 miles (1.6 km)
- Path width
- 100 yards (91 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 2
- Property damage
- $5,000 to $50,000
- County
- Pulaski County
- Touchdown point
- 37.730, -92.200
- Record number
- 436
What the Weather Service recorded
A tornado touched down six miles south of Waynesville along the Roubidoux Creek at a sand and gravel company. The tornado heavily damaged a building at the company as well as some of the vehicles in the parking lot. Two people inside of a pick-up truck received cuts when gravel blown by the tornado shattered the windows of the vehicle. Once the event was over gravel had accumulated two inches on the floor of the truck. The tornado then travelled one mile to the east and turned over a trailer, damaged two barns and twisted apart several power line poles. Only scattered tree damage was reported between the two locations where the property damage occurred.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
3 minutes of warning. NWS EAX issued a tornado warning for this county at 15:22 UTC, 3 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 16:00 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15:04 UTC | 15:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EAX |
| 15:22 UTC | 16:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | EAX |
Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.
The surface observations
Fort Leonard Woo (TBN), 5 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14:00 UTC | 70.88 | 67 | 210° 9 kt | 1000 | ||
| 15:00 UTC | 70.88 | 65 | 190° 5 kt | 999 | ||
| 15:06 UTC | 200° 5 kt | 999.7 | ||||
| 15:36 UTC | 280° 12 kt | 1001 | ||||
| 15:41 UTC | 10° 4 kt | 20 | 1000.3 | |||
| 15:51 UTC | 360° 4 kt | 1000.7 | ||||
| 16:00 UTC | 61 | 56.84 | 60° 2 kt | 1000.7 | -TSRA | |
| 16:28 UTC | 280° 7 kt | 1000.3 | ||||
| 17:00 UTC | 69 | 61 | 270° 8 kt | 1001 | ||
| 17:08 UTC | 270° 8 kt | 1001 | ||||
| 17:22 UTC | 280° 9 kt | 1001 |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Springfield radar (KSGF), 119 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 15:23 UTC.
Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track
Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 1995 tornado in MissouriEvery tornado in Missouri since 1950Warnings in force in Missouri nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of May 18, 1995
78 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 18 | 3:30 AM CDT | F0 | Brazos, TX | 1.0 | 100 | $50,000 to $500,000 | ||
| May 18 | 5:35 AM EDT | F2 | Mercer, KY | 1.0 | 200 | 8 | $500,000 to $5 million | |
| May 18 | 5:35 AM EDT | F2 | Mercer, KY | 1.0 | 200 | $500,000 to $5 million | ||
| May 18 | 8:45 AM EDT | F2 | Rowan, KY | 2.0 | 200 | |||
| May 18 | 8:00 AM CDT | F0 | Liberty, TX | 1.0 | 50 | $5,000 to $50,000 | ||
| May 18 | 8:08 AM CDT | F0 | Liberty, TX | 1.0 | 73 | $5,000 to $50,000 | ||
| May 18 | 8:20 AM CDT | F1 | Liberty, TX | 6.5 | 500 | 12 | $50,000 to $500,000 | |
| May 18 | 8:40 AM CDT | F0 | Liberty, TX | 0.2 | 20 | $500 to $5,000 | ||
| May 18 | 11:58 AM CDT | F1 | Dickson, TN | 1.0 | 50 | |||
| May 18 | 12:05 PM CDT | F2 | Jefferson, MO | 7.2 | 150 | 3 | $50,000 to $500,000 | |
| May 18 | 12:22 PM CDT | F0 | , DC | 0.5 | 50 | $5,000 to $50,000 | ||
| May 18 | 12:30 PM CDT | F2 | Davidson, TN | 15.0 | 73 | 28 | $500,000 to $5 million | |
| May 18 | 12:37 PM CDT | F1 | Monroe, IL | 0.6 | 83 | $50,000 to $500,000 | ||
| May 18 | 12:40 PM CDT | F2 | Monroe, IL | 4.0 | 300 | $50,000 to $500,000 | ||
| May 18 | 12:42 PM CDT | F1 | Monroe, IL | 4.5 | 100 | $5,000 to $50,000 | ||
| May 18 | 12:44 PM CDT | F1 | Monroe, IL | 6.0 | 200 | $5,000 to $50,000 | ||
| May 18 | 12:46 PM CDT | F2 | Monroe, IL | 4.2 | 170 | $50,000 to $500,000 | ||
| May 18 | 12:46 PM CDT | F0 | Saint Clair, IL | 0.4 | 73 | $500 to $5,000 | ||
| May 18 | 12:48 PM CDT | F1 | Monroe, IL | 4.8 | 150 | $50,000 to $500,000 | ||
| May 18 | 1:05 PM CDT | F0 | Saint Clair, IL | 8.0 | 120 | $500 to $5,000 | ||
| May 18 | 1:15 PM CDT | F1 | Macon, TN | 1.0 | 23 | $50,000 to $500,000 | ||
| May 18 | 1:15 PM CDT | F0 | Randolph, IL | 6.0 | 70 | $5,000 to $50,000 | ||
| May 18 | 1:17 PM CDT | F0 | Randolph, IL | 3.5 | 50 | $5,000 to $50,000 | ||
| May 18 | 1:26 PM CDT | F0 | Washington, IL | 7.5 | 60 | $5,000 to $50,000 | ||
| May 18 | 1:28 PM CDT | F1 | Washington, IL | 18.0 | 200 | $50,000 to $500,000 | ||
| May 18 | 1:29 PM CDT | F1 | Cape Girardeau, MO | 8.0 | 50 | $50,000 to $500,000 | ||
| May 18 | 2:30 PM EDT | F1 | Prince George's, MD | 0.3 | 30 | 2 | $500,000 to $5 million | |
| May 18 | 1:50 PM CDT | F0 | Jefferson, IL | 0.3 | 40 | |||
| May 18 | 1:55 PM CDT | F2 | Lake, TN to KY | 24.0 | 150 | $50,000 to $500,000 | ||
| May 18 | 1:55 PM CDT | F0 | Fayette, TN | 1.0 | 10 | $500 to $5,000 | ||
| May 18 | 1:55 PM CDT | F0 | Hardeman, TN | 8.0 | 50 | $500 to $5,000 | ||
| May 18 | 3:30 PM EDT | F2 | Caroline, MD | 10.0 | 200 | |||
| May 18 | 2:35 PM CDT | F1 | Beauregard Parish, LA | 0.3 | 30 | |||
| May 18 | 2:55 PM CDT | F0 | Henderson, TN | 0.5 | 10 | $500 to $5,000 | ||
| May 18 | 3:25 PM CDT | F1 | Wabash, IL | 0.5 | 50 | $5,000 to $50,000 | ||
| May 18 | 3:30 PM CDT | F1 | Allen Parish, LA | 0.5 | 30 | 1 | ||
| May 18 | 3:30 PM CDT | F1 | Evangeline Parish, LA | 0.5 | 23 | |||
| May 18 | 4:00 PM EST | F1 | Martin, IN | 0.1 | 50 | $5,000 to $50,000 | ||
| May 18 | 4:00 PM CDT | F1 | Todd, KY | 0.5 | 50 | $5,000 to $50,000 | ||
| May 18 | 4:12 PM CDT | F1 | Trigg, KY | 0.5 | 50 | $5,000 to $50,000 | ||
| May 18 | 4:15 PM CDT | F2 | Trigg, KY | 10.0 | 73 | $50,000 to $500,000 | ||
| May 18 | 5:15 PM EDT | F2 | Hardin, KY | 0.5 | 200 | $50,000 to $500,000 | ||
| May 18 | 4:30 PM CDT | F0 | Wayne, TN | 0.5 | 10 | $500 to $5,000 | ||
| May 18 | 5:30 PM EDT | F1 | Bullitt, KY | 2.0 | 200 | $5,000 to $50,000 | ||
| May 18 | 4:40 PM CDT | F2 | Breckinridge, KY | 1.0 | 200 | $50,000 to $500,000 | ||
| May 18 | 4:40 PM CDT | F0 | Prentiss, MS | 1.0 | 23 | $5,000 to $50,000 | ||
| May 18 | 4:45 PM CDT | F1 | Colbert, AL | 6.5 | 150 | $50,000 to $500,000 | ||
| May 18 | 4:52 PM CDT | F4 | Lawrence, TN | 29.0 | 1,000 | 3 | 32 | $500,000 to $5 million |
| May 18 | 4:55 PM CDT | F0 | Rutherford, TN | 8.0 | 73 | 4 | $5,000 to $50,000 | |
| May 18 | 6:00 PM EDT | F1 | Pulaski, KY | 0.5 | 200 | |||
| May 18 | 5:04 PM CDT | F0 | Metcalfe, KY | 1.0 | 200 | |||
| May 18 | 5:10 PM CDT | F2 | Metcalfe, KY | 3.0 | 200 | $50,000 to $500,000 | ||
| May 18 | 6:10 PM EDT | F2 | Laurel, KY | 3.0 | 300 | $500,000 to $5 million | ||
| May 18 | 6:10 PM EDT | F0 | Clay, KY | 0.1 | 10 | |||
| May 18 | 5:25 PM CDT | F2 | Warren, KY | 2.5 | 100 | $50,000 to $500,000 | ||
| May 18 | 6:25 PM EDT | F0 | Breathitt, KY | 0.1 | 10 | |||
| May 18 | 5:30 PM CDT | F2 | Warren, KY | 1.5 | 100 | $50,000 to $500,000 | ||
| May 18 | 5:30 PM CDT | F0 | DeKalb, TN | 2.0 | 23 | $500 to $5,000 | ||
| May 18 | 6:30 PM EDT | F2 | Perry, KY | 24.0 | 100 | $50,000 to $500,000 | ||
| May 18 | 5:33 PM CDT | F4 | Limestone, AL | 39.0 | 1,300 | 1 | 55 | $500,000 to $5 million |
What this means
Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.
Sources
NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.