F2 tornado, Atlanta to Novelty, 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

5:25 PM CDT (22:25 UTC)

Path length

17.0 miles (27.4 km)

Path width

270 yards (247 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$1.0 million

Counties

Macon and Knox counties

Touchdown point

39.880, -92.470

Lift-off point

40.000, -92.220

Record number

336

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.

A tornado moved from Macon into Knox County southwest of Novelty and caused damage for about 7 miles as it tracked northeast. One home completely lost its roof while another lost half of its roof. Another home had the siding peeled off one side. At least 4 barns, 6 outbuildings and 2 grain bins were destroyed. Several large trees were downed along with power lines and power poles.

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.

31 minutes of warning. NWS EAX issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:54 UTC, 31 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:30 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 St Louis radar (KLSX), 199 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:22 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.