F2 tornado, Pike to Bluffs, 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

7:34 PM CDT (00:34 UTC)

Path length

27.3 miles (43.9 km)

Path width

120 yards (110 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$150,000

Counties

Pike, Pike and Scott counties

Touchdown point

39.450, -91.050

Lift-off point

39.650, -90.630

Record number

318

After forming on the north side of Louisiana, MO, a tornado crossed the Mississippi River into Illinois and first caused damage to a boat dock along US 54. The tornado tracked northeast along US 54 destroying a barn and downing trees. The damage along the rest of the path was somewhat intermittent. Trees were downed and an occasional farm building damaged. Significant damage was noted as the tornado tracked northeast from Pittsfield. Just east of Pittsfield, two farms suffered damage. Three barns were destroyed, an equipment building heavily damaged and a grain bin destroyed. About 5 miles east-northeast of Pittsfield a home lost part of its roof and numerous trees were damaged. The last area of significant damage in Pike County was northeast of Detroit. One home lost its roof, a barn was destroyed and 2 grain bins damaged. Numerous large trees in this area were snapped off at the base.

As the tornado crossed the Illinois River from Pike County into Scott County, it caused extensive damage to a residence next to a pump house located near the river, 5 miles southwest of Oxville. The windows on the west side of the house were blown out and the east wall was blown out as well. Shortly after hitting the home the tornado lifted and dissipated. No injuries were reported and the damage was estimated around $150,000.

A tornado developed 0.3 of a mile north northwest of Oxville. It took the roof off of a trailer then continued to the northeast. One mile northeast of Oxville, it destroyed a barn and three grain bins. It destroyed numerous trees and caused damage to several barns and silos before lifting and dissipating 3 miles southeast of Bluffs. No injuries were reported and damage was estimated around $100,000.

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

42 minutes of warning. NWS LSX issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:52 UTC, 42 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:40 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), 96 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 00:36 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.