F2 tornado, Bosworth to Atlanta, Missouri, April 8, 1999

1. F040 to 72 mph

   Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

2. F173 to 112 mph

   Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

3. F2113 to 157 mphthis tornado

   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.

4. 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.

5. F4207 to 260 mph

   Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

6. 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.

7. 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.

Rating

F2

Date

April 8, 1999

Touchdown

4:20 PM CDT (21:20 UTC)

Path length

53.5 miles (86.1 km)

Path width

280 yards (256 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

2

Property damage

$1.9 million

Counties

Carroll, Chariton and Macon counties

Touchdown point

39.470, -93.400

Lift-off point

39.900, -92.520

Record number

842

Severe weather broke out in northwest and west-central Missouri around midday on April 8. Storms tracked rapidly northeastward and moved into central and north-central Missouri by early evening. The outbreak included at least five tornadoes, one of which moved along a 54-mile path across three counties. Reports of thunderstorm wind damage were also widespread throughout the area.

The tornado touched down 3 miles west of Bosworth and moved northeast into Chariton and Macon Counties. A home was destroyed 1 mile north of Bosworth and several large trees were downed before the tornado moved into Chariton County.

The Carroll County tornado continued northeast across Chariton County damaging or destroying several outbuildings near Mendon and 5 miles south of Marceline. In addition, a single family home suffered minor damage, and a mobile home was damaged 5 miles south of Marceline.

The tornado which formed in Carroll County continued northeast through Chariton County and into Macon County, where the most widespread damage occurred. Continuous damage was observed from 2 miles south of New Cambria, where two workers suffered minor injuries at a mining quarry, to 2 miles west of Atlanta. Within this area, thirteen single family homes and 9 mobile homes were destroyed. Six single family homes and 4 mobile homes suffered major damage, and 33 single family homes and one mobile home suffered minor damage. Eighty-five agricultural outbuildings were destroyed, and 37 sustained damage. Widespread tree and power pole damage occurred.

After dissipating just west of Atlanta, a new tornado touched down 1 mile southeast of Atlanta and moved northeast into Knox County. In Macon County, 5 single family residences and 3 mobile homes were destroyed from 2 miles east of Atlanta to 10 miles northeast of Atlanta. Four single family homes were damaged within this area. Several outbuildings were also damaged or destroyed. Some damage south of the tornado track was likely due to the very intense rear flank downdraft, which storm spotters observed to accompany the storm.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

17 minutes of warning. NWS EAX issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:03 UTC, 17 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:30 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a High Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 19:58 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 149 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:22 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.

The live radar over the trackEvery 1999 tornado in MissouriEvery tornado in Missouri since 1950Warnings in force in Missouri nowThe forecast where you are

46 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.