Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2004

F0 tornado, Papinsville, Missouri, May 26, 2004

This F0 tornado ran 1.0 miles across Bates County on May 26, 2004, touching down at 9:50 PM CDT and reaching 25 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.

  1. F040 to 72 mphthis tornado

    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 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.

  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.

The record

Rating
F0
Date
May 26, 2004
Touchdown
9:50 PM CDT (02:50 UTC)
Path length
1.0 miles (1.6 km)
Path width
25 yards (23 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Bates County
Touchdown point
38.030, -94.230
Lift-off point
38.030, -94.220
Record number
162

What the Weather Service recorded

Brief tornado touchdown.

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

The warnings

39 minutes of warning. NWS EAX issued a tornado warning for this county at 02:11 UTC, 39 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 03:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
02:11 UTC03:00 UTCTornado WarningEAX
02:59 UTC03:30 UTCTornado WarningEAX

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 Slight Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 01:02 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 air that afternoon

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.

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 00:00Z

2.8 hours before the tornado, 131 km from the path. May 27, 2004.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2004-05-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1669 joules per kilogram, CIN -73, lifted condensation level 828 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2004-05-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 273 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 71 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1669 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-73 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2258 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
828 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
71 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
273 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
351 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.7
Supercell composite
12.9
0-3 km lapse rate
6.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 12:00Z

9.2 hours after it, 131 km from the path. May 27, 2004.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2004-05-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 952 joules per kilogram, CIN -106, lifted condensation level 699 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2004-05-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 346 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 64 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
952 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-106 J/kg
Surface CAPE
517 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
699 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
64 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
346 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
384 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.5
Supercell composite
3.7
0-3 km lapse rate
4.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Whiteman Afb (SZL), 98 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
00:59 UTC62.662.6 3 kt1004.7BR
01:55 UTC62.662.640° 6 kt1005.1BR
02:55 UTC62.662.6150° 8 kt1005.4-SHRA BR
03:28 UTC62.662.670° 3 kt1005.4BR
03:55 UTC62.662.6140° 5 kt1005.8BR

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 87 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:50 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)ReportWhereCountyRemark
03:10 UTCHAIL 1Lowry CitySt.Clair, MOREPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.
03:10 UTCHAIL 1Lowry CitySt.Clair, MOREPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.
03:10 UTCHAIL 1OsceolaSt.Clair, MOREPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.
03:10 UTCHAIL 1OsceolaSt.Clair, MOREPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.
03:20 UTCTORNADO 27 N RoscoeSt.Clair, MO*** 1 INJ *** TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN INITIALLY AT 1020 PM 6.5 MILES WEST OF ROSCOE, ON THE GROUND FOR 12 MILES, LIFTING 6 MILES SOUTH OF OSCEOLA AT 1040 PM. F2 DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED IN ROSCOE AND JUST EAST OF ROSCOE. A FEW S
03:20 UTCTORNADO 27 W RoscoeSt.Clair, MO*** 1 INJ *** TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN INITIALLY AT 1020 PM 6.5 MILES WEST OF ROSCOE, ON THE GROUND FOR 12 MILES, LIFTING 6 MILES SOUTH OF OSCEOLA AT 1040 PM. F2 DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED IN ROSCOE AND JUST EAST OF ROSCOE. A FEW S
03:26 UTCTORNADO2 W CollinsSt.Clair, MOREPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.
03:26 UTCTORNADO2 W CollinsSt.Clair, MOREPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.
03:33 UTCTORNADORoscoeSt.Clair, MO*** 1 INJ *** UPDATE. SEVERAL HOUSES DAMAGED. TRAILER TURNED OVER. 1 INJURY REPORTED...NO SPECIFICS AT THIS TIME. REPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.
03:33 UTCTORNADORoscoeSt.Clair, MO*** 1 INJ *** UPDATE. SEVERAL HOUSES DAMAGED. TRAILER TURNED OVER. 1 INJURY REPORTED...NO SPECIFICS AT THIS TIME. REPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.
03:40 UTCTORNADO 26 S OsceolaSt.Clair, MOF2 TORNADO THAT TOUCHED DOWN AT 1020 PM LIFTING AT THIS LOCATION AT 1040 PM. REPORTED BY NWS STORM SURVEY.

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 26, 2004

10 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 263:35 AM EDTF0Lee, VA0.550$10,000
May 265:04 PM EDTF1Lee, VA1.550$30,000
May 265:30 PM EDTF1Hawkins, TN2.050$30,000
May 265:45 PM EDTF0Scott, VA0.550$20,000
May 267:08 PM CDTF0Fisher, TX0.120
May 267:10 PM CDTF0Fisher, TX0.120
May 267:37 PM CDTF0Noble, OK3.0200$30,000
May 268:59 PM CDTF1Osage, OK1.0100$10,000
May 269:15 PM CDTF1Linn, KS5.54002$70,000
May 2610:20 PM CDTF2St. Clair, MO12.02001$500,000

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.