Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2005

F0 tornado, Golden City, Missouri, September 28, 2005

This F0 tornado ran 0.4 miles across Barton County on September 28, 2005, touching down at 3:15 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
September 28, 2005
Touchdown
3:15 PM CDT (20:15 UTC)
Path length
0.4 miles (0.6 km)
Path width
25 yards (23 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Barton County
Touchdown point
37.400, -94.100
Lift-off point
37.400, -94.100
Record number
407

What the Weather Service recorded

A National Weather Service storm survey revealed that weak tornado briefly touched down near the community of Golden City. Minor tree damage occurred and debris was scattered around. However, no structural damage was observed from this tornado.

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

The warnings

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
19:48 UTC20:27 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGF

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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 19:45 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), 12:00Z

8.3 hours before the tornado, 62 km from the path. September 28, 2005.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2005-09-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 56 joules per kilogram, CIN -436, lifted condensation level 1001 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 2005-09-28The 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 153 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 24 knots.193958Sfc1 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
56 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-436 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1001 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
153 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
179 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
2.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 00:00Z

3.7 hours after it, 62 km from the path. September 29, 2005.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2005-09-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -86405, lifted condensation level 771 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 2005-09-29The 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 -169 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 44 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-86405 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
771 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-169 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-19 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Joplin (JLN), 45 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
18:17 UTC80.671.6250° 8 kt1011.9HZ
18:53 UTC80.671.6250° 10 kt1011.9HZ
19:53 UTC8371230° 13 kt191011.5HZ
20:14 UTC7766.2330° 23 kt301012.9HZ
20:18 UTC71.664.4330° 23 kt301013.2VCTS -RA
20:25 UTC6864.4330° 20 kt291013.2VCTS +RA BR
20:29 UTC66.264.4330° 19 kt291013.5VCTS +RA BR
20:38 UTC6866.2330° 14 kt181013.5VCTS -RA BR
20:46 UTC6866.2330° 15 kt211013.9VCTS -RA BR
20:53 UTC6966320° 17 kt221013.9VCTS BR
21:05 UTC6864.4330° 16 kt221013.9BR
21:53 UTC6561340° 15 kt221015.2
22:07 UTC66.259360° 12 kt181015.9

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

The radar

The Springfield radar (KSGF), 65 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:15 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
19:45 UTCHAIL 0.25MindenminesBarton, MO
19:45 UTCHAIL 0.25MindenminesBarton, MO
20:15 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDGolden CityBarton, MO
20:15 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDGolden CityBarton, MO
20:15 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 E JasperJasper, MOTREE UPROOTED NEAR HIGHWAYS T AND K
20:15 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 E JasperJasper, MOTREE UPROOTED NEAR HIGHWAYS T AND K
20:15 UTCHAIL 1Golden CityBarton, MO
20:15 UTCHAIL 1Golden CityBarton, MO
20:15 UTCTORNADO 0Golden CityBarton, MOBRIEF TOUCHDOWN ALONG THE SOUTHERN EDGE OF TOWN
20:16 UTCTSTM WND GST 75Golden CityBarton, MO
20:16 UTCTSTM WND GST 75Golden CityBarton, MO
20:26 UTCTSTM WND DMGLockwoodDade, MOSEVERAL TREES DOWN ON POWERLINES.
20:26 UTCTSTM WND DMGLockwoodDade, MOSEVERAL TREES DOWN ON POWERLINES.
20:26 UTCTSTM WND DMGLockwoodDade, MOSEVERAL TREES DOWN ON POWERLINES.
20:46 UTCTSTM WND GST 65EvertonDade, MO5-6 INCH LIMBS BLOWN OUT OF TREES.
20:46 UTCTSTM WND GST 65EvertonDade, MO5-6 INCH THICK BRANCHES BLOWN OUT OF SEVERAL TREES.
20:50 UTCTSTM WND DMGMillerLawrence, MOTREE BLOWN OVER
20:50 UTCTSTM WND DMGMillerLawrence, MOTREE BLOWN OVER
20:55 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 W Bois D ArcGreene, MOTREES DOWN WEST OF BOIS D'ARC.
20:55 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 W Bois D ArcGreene, MOTREES DOWN WEST OF BOIS DARC.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2005 tornado in MissouriEvery tornado in Missouri since 1950Warnings in force in Missouri nowThe forecast where you are

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.