Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2007

EF0 tornado, Golden City, Missouri, April 24, 2007

This EF0 tornado ran 2.8 miles across Barton County on April 24, 2007, touching down at 6:20 PM CDT and reaching 25 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $5,000 of property damage.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Enhanced Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. EF2111 to 135 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. EF3136 to 165 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. EF4166 to 200 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. EF5over 200 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
EF0
Date
April 24, 2007
Touchdown
6:20 PM CDT (23:20 UTC)
Lifted
6:21 PM CDT (23:21 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
2.8 miles (4.6 km)
Path width
25 yards (23 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$5,000
County
Barton County
Touchdown point
37.380, -94.126
Lift-off point
37.420, -94.126
Record number
0704241720-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Several storms produced hail and damaging winds across the Missouri Ozarks. One small tornado briefly touched down near the community of Golden City.

A National Weather Service storm survey revealed that a weak EF-0 tornado caused intermittent damage near the community of Golden City. Three outbuildings experienced minor damage.

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.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:25 UTC and running to 01:45 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
20:25 UTC01:45 UTCTornado WatchSGF
22:09 UTC23:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGF
22:48 UTC05:00 UTCFlash Flood WarningSGF
23:03 UTC23:34 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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:56 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

11.3 hours before the tornado, 63 km from the path. April 24, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2007-04-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 129 joules per kilogram, CIN -207, lifted condensation level 1045 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 2007-04-24The 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 32 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 25 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
129 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-207 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1045 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
32 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
102 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 00:00Z

0.7 hours after it, 63 km from the path. April 25, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2007-04-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 789 joules per kilogram, CIN -14, lifted condensation level 681 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 00:00Z on 2007-04-25The 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 122 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 31 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
789 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-14 J/kg
Surface CAPE
956 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
681 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
122 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
123 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
2.3
0-3 km lapse rate
5.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Joplin (JLN), 43 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
21:50 UTC75.264.4160° 9 kt1006.4-TSRA
21:53 UTC7465160° 8 kt1006.4+TSRA
21:57 UTC71.666.2150° 8 kt1006.4+TSRA
22:06 UTC71.664.4170° 14 kt201006.8-TSRA
22:53 UTC6659250° 16 kt321007.8-TSRA
23:02 UTC62.657.2250° 10 kt291007.5+TSRA BR
23:22 UTC62.659160° 15 kt1008.1+TSRA BR
23:53 UTC6461170° 19 kt311007.8+TSRA BR
23:55 UTC64.460.8170° 17 kt311007.5+TSRA BR
00:03 UTC64.459170° 15 kt251007.5TSRA
00:14 UTC64.460.8190° 11 kt1007.5-TSRA
00:53 UTC6359170° 12 kt1006.8+TSRA BR
01:10 UTC62.659140° 10 kt1006.1TSRA BR

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

The radar

The Springfield radar (KSGF), 67 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:17 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
23:20 UTCTSTM WND DMGGolden CityBarton, MOWIND DAMAGE FROM 2W TO 1N OF GOLDEN CITY. POSSIBLE TORNADO. 1 STRUCTURE DAMAGED. NO INJURIES.
23:20 UTCTSTM WND DMGNevadaVernon, MOSMALL LIMBS AND LIGHT POLE DOWN.
23:20 UTCTORNADO 02 Sw Golden CityBarton, MOA WEAK TORNADO INTERMITTENTLY DOWNED TREES AND DAMAGED THREE OUTBUILDINGS AS IT MOVED NORTHWESTWARD FROM 2 SOUTHWEST OF GOLDEN CITY...LAT 37.37 LON 94.12...TO 2 NORTHWEST OF GOLDEN CITY...LAT 37.42 LON 94.14. THERE WERE
23:43 UTCFLASH FLOODLamarBarton, MOLOW LYING ROADS UNDER WATER. 1.4 INCHES OF RAINFALL IN THE PAST HOUR.
23:51 UTCFLASH FLOOD1 Se DuenwegJasper, MOCOUNTY ROADS NEAR DUENWEG WERE CLOSED DUE TO FLOODING. SPECIFICALLY, COUNTY ROAD 190 WAS CLOSED, JUST SOUTHEAST OF THE CITY OF DUENWEG, AND ANOTHER WAS CLOSED ON APPLE ROAD WEST OF COUNTY ROAD 160.
23:51 UTCFLASH FLOODCarthageJasper, MOLOCALIZED FLOODING IN LOW LYING AREAS DURING THE PAST ONE AND ONE HALF HOURS.
00:01 UTCHEAVY RAIN 2CartervilleJasper, MOTWO INCHES OF RAIN SINCE 530 PM.
00:33 UTCTSTM WND DMGFair PlayPolk, MOTREES DOWN BLOCKING ROADWAYS IN THE CITY OF FAIR PLAY.
01:00 UTCFLASH FLOOD1 E FilleyCedar, MOLOW WATER CROSSING AT HIGHWAY 7 AND ROUTE BB IN THE VICINITY OF PRONG CREEK UNDER WATER.
01:00 UTCFLASH FLOODStocktonCedar, MOWARD ST. IN STOCKTON FLOODED. ROAD NOW OPEN.
01:00 UTCHEAVY RAIN 2.81CarthageJasper, MOSTORM TOTAL RAINFALL THROUGH 800 PM.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2007 tornado in MissouriEvery tornado in Missouri since 1950Warnings in force in Missouri nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 24, 2007

22 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 2411:58 AM MDTEF0Cheyenne, CO0.510$25,000
April 2412:15 PM MDTEF0Cheyenne, CO4.025
April 2412:38 PM MDTEF0Lincoln, CO2.050
April 2412:58 PM MDTEF0Lincoln, CO0.150
April 242:00 PM CDTEF1Hood, TX0.550$200,000
April 242:20 PM CDTEF0Denton, TX1.050$40,000
April 241:26 PM MDTEF1Cheyenne, CO4.525$1,000
April 241:37 PM MDTEF0Cheyenne, CO4.025
April 241:48 PM MDTEF0Wallace, KS0.510
April 241:55 PM MDTEF0Cheyenne, CO5.050
April 242:00 PM MDTEF0Cheyenne, CO0.510
April 242:00 PM MDTEF0Cheyenne, CO0.510
April 243:27 PM CDTEF0Osage, OK5.5100
April 247:01 PM CDTEF0Reno, KS0.025
April 247:01 PM CDTEF3Maverick, TX4.04007$80 million
April 247:09 PM CDTEF0Reno, KS0.025
April 247:12 PM CDTEF0Reno, KS0.025
April 247:14 PM CDTEF0Reno, KS0.025
April 247:16 PM CDTEF0Reno, KS0.025
April 247:19 PM CDTEF1Denton, TX2.550$100,000
April 247:29 PM CDTEF0Reno, KS0.025
April 247:43 PM CDTEF1Franklin, AR1.0100$125,000

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.