Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2007

EF0 tornado, Fairfax, Missouri, August 8, 2007

This EF0 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Atchison County on August 8, 2007, touching down at 6:45 PM CDT and reaching 25 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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
August 8, 2007
Touchdown
6:45 PM CDT (23:45 UTC)
Lifted
6:46 PM CDT (23:46 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.1 miles (0.2 km)
Path width
25 yards (23 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Atchison County
Touchdown point
40.350, -95.411
Lift-off point
40.350, -95.411
Record number
0708081745-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A cold front dropped across portions of northern Missouri, mainly north|of Highway 36. Damaging winds was primarily reported, along with an |isolated tornado.

Brief tornado touchdown at 1745 CST just north northwest of Fairfax. No damage or injuries reported.

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

The warnings

10 minutes of warning. NWS EAX issued a tornado warning for this county at 23:35 UTC, 10 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 21:44 UTC and running to 02:16 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
11:10 UTC15:00 UTCFlood AdvisoryEAX
21:44 UTC02:16 UTCTornado WatchEAX
23:24 UTC00:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAX
23:35 UTC00:00 UTCTornado WarningEAX
23:43 UTC00:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAX
23:47 UTC06:00 UTCFlash Flood WarningEAX
23:58 UTC00:17 UTCTornado WarningEAX
00:03 UTC00:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAX
03:48 UTC09:44 UTCFlood 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, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:15 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.

Omaha, NE (KOAX), 12:00Z

11.8 hours before the tornado, 135 km from the path. August 8, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 2007-08-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 341 joules per kilogram, CIN -250, lifted condensation level 900 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 2007-08-08The 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 67 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 26 knots.1939Sfc1 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
341 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-250 J/kg
Surface CAPE
527 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
900 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
67 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
196 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.1
0-3 km lapse rate
3.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Omaha, NE (KOAX), 00:00Z

0.2 hours after it, 135 km from the path. August 9, 2007.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 2007-08-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1742 joules per kilogram, CIN -11, lifted condensation level 877 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, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 2007-08-09The 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 65 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 30 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
1742 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-11 J/kg
Surface CAPE
3224 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
877 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
65 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
108 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
3.7
0-3 km lapse rate
6.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Falls City/Brenn (FNB), 34 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
21:53 UTC9278170° 9 kt171006.4
22:53 UTC9178 5 kt1005.4
23:07 UTC89.678.8160° 10 kt161004.4VCTS
23:53 UTC746810° 24 kt401006.1VCTS -RA
00:06 UTC73.468350° 15 kt291007.1TS
00:20 UTC71.671.6330° 26 kt401007.5+TSRA BR
00:27 UTC69.869.810° 23 kt411007.8+TSRA BR
00:49 UTC50° 11 ktTS
01:00 UTC170° 11 kt+TSRA
01:12 UTC180° 12 kt24TS
01:42 UTC190° 15 kt21-TSRA

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

The radar

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 135 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:44 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
23:15 UTCHAIL 0.75RockportAtchison, MO
23:42 UTCTSTM WND DMGTarkioAtchison, MOROOF BLOWN OFF RECYCLING CENTER NEAR INTERSECTION OF HIGHWAY 59 AND HIGHWAY 136.
23:45 UTCTSTM WND DMGRockportAtchison, MOPORCH BLOWN OFF HOUSE ON RAINBOW DRIVE IN ROCKPORT. MANY TREES...POWER LINES...PHONE LINES DOWN...CORN FIELDS FLATTENED.
23:45 UTCTORNADO1 Nw FairfaxAtchison, MO
23:57 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Nne TarkioAtchison, MONUMEROUS DOWNED TREES BLOCKING THE O HIGHWAY NORTH OF TARKIO.
00:00 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Se FairfaxAtchison, MOEMERGENCY MANAGER REPORTS MASSIVE BLOW DOWN ACROSS SOUTHERN ATCHISON COUNTY FROM FAIRFAX TO THE COUNTY LINE. WIDESPREAD TREES AND POWER POLES DOWN. ENTIRE CORN FIELDS MOWED DOWN BY STRAIGHT LINE WINDS.
00:00 UTCTSTM WND DMGSe FairfaxAtchison, MOEMERGENCY MANAGER REPORTS MASSIVE BLOW DOWN ACROSS SOUTHERN ATCHISON COUNTY FROM FAIRFAX TO THE COUNTY LINE. WIDESPREAD TREES AND POWER POLES DOWN. ENTIRE CORN FIELDS MOWED DOWN BY STRAIGHT LINE WINDS.
00:00 UTCTSTM WND GST 65RockportAtchison, MO
00:05 UTCTSTM WND GST 60Burlington JctNodaway, MO
00:19 UTCTSTM WND GST 61MaryvilleNodaway, MOMEASURED GUST AT MARYVILLE AIRPORT /KEVU/ AWOS.
00:29 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 S Mound CityHolt, MOSIX INCH TREE LIMBS COVERING HIGHWAY 59.
00:50 UTCTSTM WND DMGGrahamNodaway, MOEIGHT TO TEN INCH TREE LIMBS DOWN
00:53 UTCFLASH FLOOD1 W HopkinsNodaway, MOWATER OVER HIGHWAY JJ BETWEEN JADE AND FF

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 August 8, 2007

4 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 86:22 AM EDTEF1Richmond, NY1.950
August 86:32 AM EDTEF2Kings, NY3.91009
August 83:59 PM CDTEF0McPherson, SD0.210
August 85:02 PM CDTEF0Lewis, MO0.110

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.