Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2004
F0 tornado, Hannibal, Missouri, May 24, 2004
This F0 tornado ran 2.0 miles across Marion County on May 24, 2004, touching down at 10:55 PM CDT and reaching 50 yards wide. It killed nobody.
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 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
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
- F0
- Date
- May 24, 2004
- Touchdown
- 10:55 PM CDT (03:55 UTC)
- Path length
- 2.0 miles (3.2 km)
- Path width
- 50 yards (46 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Marion County
- Touchdown point
- 39.750, -91.450
- Lift-off point
- 39.730, -91.430
- Record number
- 119
What the Weather Service recorded
A weak tornado caused tree damage just south of Highway 61 northwest of Hannibal.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
25 minutes of warning. NWS LSX issued a tornado warning for this county at 03:30 UTC, 25 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 04:30 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 02:10 UTC | 03:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | LSX |
| 03:17 UTC | 04:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX |
| 03:30 UTC | 04:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | LSX |
| 03:35 UTC | 08:30 UTC | Flash Flood Warning | LSX |
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 forecast that day
The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a High Risk, with a 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 01:14 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 radar
The St Louis radar (KLSX), 133 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 03:57 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.
What was reported nearby
Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 02:08 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | Shelbyville | Shelby, MO | |
| 02:15 UTC | TSTM WND GST 62 | Newark | Knox, MO | |
| 02:35 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | Philadelphia | Marion, MO | |
| 02:47 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | Palmyra | Marion, MO | POWER OUT IN THE AREA. |
| 02:53 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | Palmyra | Marion, MO | |
| 02:55 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | 5 Sw Monticello | Lewis, MO | |
| 02:58 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Palmyra | Marion, MO | SEVERAL TREES DOWN IN TOWN. ONE TREE FELL ON VEHICLE ON HIGHWAY 61. |
| 03:15 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | 2 Se Ewing | Lewis, MO | |
| 03:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Ne Philadelphia | Marion, MO | SUBSTANTIAL DAMAGE |
| 03:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Se Ewing | Lewis, MO | POWER LINES DOWNED. |
| 03:35 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Paris | Monroe, MO | TREES DOWN ACROSS MULBERRY ST. |
| 03:35 UTC | HAIL 1 | Paris | Monroe, MO | |
| 03:36 UTC | TORNADO | Rensselaer | Ralls, MO | |
| 03:40 UTC | TORNADO | 1 E Rensselaer | Ralls, MO | |
| 03:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | New London | Ralls, MO | SEVERAL TREES DOWN. |
| 03:49 UTC | HAIL 1 | Hannibal | Marion, MO | |
| 04:10 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Curryville | Pike, MO | TREES DOWN. |
| 04:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Bowling Green | Pike, MO | TREES DOWN. |
| 04:20 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Louisiana | Pike, MO | TREES DOWN. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2004 tornado in MissouriEvery tornado in Missouri since 1950Warnings in force in Missouri nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of May 24, 2004
52 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 24 | 3:05 PM CDT | F0 | Nuckolls, NE | 2.0 | 50 | $40,000 | ||
| May 24 | 3:20 PM CDT | F0 | Nuckolls, NE | 0.1 | 25 | |||
| May 24 | 3:28 PM CDT | F0 | Nuckolls, NE | 0.1 | 25 | |||
| May 24 | 3:35 PM CDT | F1 | Holt, MO | 2.0 | 300 | $10,000 | ||
| May 24 | 3:35 PM CDT | F0 | Nuckolls, NE | 0.1 | 15 | |||
| May 24 | 3:41 PM CDT | F0 | Nuckolls, NE | 0.1 | 15 | $1,000 | ||
| May 24 | 3:52 PM CDT | F0 | Nuckolls, NE | 0.1 | 15 | |||
| May 24 | 3:58 PM CDT | F1 | Nuckolls, NE | 2.0 | 100 | $100,000 | ||
| May 24 | 4:02 PM CDT | F0 | Thayer, NE | 2.0 | 75 | $30,000 | ||
| May 24 | 4:06 PM CDT | F1 | Thayer, NE | 2.0 | 450 | $500,000 | ||
| May 24 | 4:15 PM CDT | F0 | Republic, KS | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| May 24 | 4:16 PM CDT | F0 | Nuckolls, NE | 0.1 | 25 | |||
| May 24 | 4:18 PM CDT | F0 | Republic, KS | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| May 24 | 4:24 PM CDT | F0 | Republic, KS | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| May 24 | 4:28 PM CDT | F0 | Nodaway, MO | 0.5 | 50 | |||
| May 24 | 4:29 PM CDT | F0 | Thayer, NE | 0.1 | 25 | |||
| May 24 | 4:30 PM CDT | F0 | Fremont, IA | 3.0 | 40 | |||
| May 24 | 5:30 PM EDT | F1 | Broome, NY | 6.0 | 100 | $100,000 | ||
| May 24 | 4:55 PM CDT | F2 | Gentry, MO | 17.0 | 250 | 1 | $10 million | |
| May 24 | 4:57 PM CDT | F0 | Republic, KS | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| May 24 | 4:58 PM CDT | F0 | Madison, IA | 0.5 | 50 | |||
| May 24 | 5:08 PM CDT | F0 | Republic, KS | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| May 24 | 5:12 PM CDT | F0 | Republic, KS | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| May 24 | 5:25 PM CDT | F0 | Republic, KS | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| May 24 | 5:29 PM CDT | F0 | Washington, KS | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| May 24 | 5:40 PM CDT | F0 | Warren, IA | 0.2 | 30 | |||
| May 24 | 5:53 PM CDT | F0 | Harrison, MO | 0.5 | 50 | |||
| May 24 | 6:18 PM CDT | F1 | Livingston, MO | 9.5 | 200 | $1.7 million | ||
| May 24 | 6:21 PM CDT | F1 | Caddo, OK | 0.2 | 25 | $40,000 | ||
| May 24 | 6:24 PM CDT | F0 | Harrison, MO | 0.5 | 50 | |||
| May 24 | 6:27 PM CDT | F1 | Caddo, OK | 0.2 | 30 | $50,000 | ||
| May 24 | 6:47 PM CDT | F1 | Linn, MO | 5.0 | 150 | $200,000 | ||
| May 24 | 7:12 PM CDT | F0 | Worth, MO | 2.0 | 100 | |||
| May 24 | 7:20 PM CDT | F0 | Ringgold, IA | 0.2 | 30 | |||
| May 24 | 7:21 PM CDT | F0 | Tillman, OK | 0.5 | 30 | |||
| May 24 | 7:25 PM CDT | F1 | Shawnee, KS | 1.2 | 75 | $100,000 | ||
| May 24 | 7:27 PM CDT | F0 | Tillman, OK | 0.7 | 30 | $1,000 | ||
| May 24 | 7:29 PM CDT | F0 | Tillman, OK | 0.3 | 50 | $1,000 | ||
| May 24 | 7:29 PM CDT | F0 | Wabaunsee, KS | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| May 24 | 7:32 PM CDT | F0 | Tillman, OK | 0.2 | 30 | |||
| May 24 | 7:39 PM CDT | F0 | Wabaunsee, KS | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| May 24 | 7:45 PM CDT | F1 | Macon, MO | 1.0 | 100 | $300,000 | ||
| May 24 | 7:48 PM CDT | F0 | Osage, KS | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| May 24 | 7:53 PM CDT | F0 | Appanoose, IA | 0.1 | 25 | $2,000 | ||
| May 24 | 7:58 PM CDT | F0 | Tillman, OK | 0.1 | 30 | |||
| May 24 | 10:55 PM CDT | F0 | Ralls, MO | 0.2 | 40 | |||
| May 24 | 11:00 PM CDT | F0 | Pike, IL | 1.0 | 40 | |||
| May 24 | 11:05 PM CDT | F1 | Pike, IL | 5.0 | 50 | |||
| May 24 | 11:15 PM CDT | F1 | Pike, IL | 3.0 | 50 | |||
| May 24 | 11:19 PM CDT | F1 | Scott, IL | 7.3 | 100 | 1 | 1 | |
| May 24 | 11:35 PM CDT | F2 | Morgan, IL | 1.2 | 100 | 1 | $4.0 million | |
| May 24 | 12:09 AM CDT | F1 | Sangamon, IL | 0.3 | 75 |
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.