Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2008

EF0 tornado, Ortiz, Missouri, January 7, 2008

This EF0 tornado ran 0.3 miles across Audrain County on January 7, 2008, touching down at 3:55 PM CST and reaching 40 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
January 7, 2008
Touchdown
3:55 PM CST (21:55 UTC)
Lifted
3:56 PM CST (21:56 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.3 miles (0.5 km)
Path width
40 yards (37 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Audrain County
Touchdown point
39.069, -91.952
Lift-off point
39.073, -91.952
Record number
0801071555-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A strong cold front slid across the region...triggering numerous thunderstorms...so of which became severe.

A tornado touched down south of Highway HH in far southern Audrain County. As it travelled to the north it damaged a machine shed and several trees. Also, numerous tree limbs were blown down.

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

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 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.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS St. Louis, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Jan 7, 3:08 PM CST, 47 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 7, 3:08 PM CST, 47 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 7, 3:44 PM CST, 11 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
344 PM CST MON JAN 7 2008

ILZ058>060-064-065-069-070-074-079-095>102-MOZ018-019-026-027-
034>036-041-042-047>052-059>065-072>075-084-085-099-081200-
GREENE IL-MACOUPIN IL-MONTGOMERY IL-BOND IL-FAYETTE IL-CLINTON IL-
MARION IL-WASHINGTON IL-RANDOLPH IL-ADAMS IL-BROWN IL-PIKE IL-
CALHOUN IL-JERSEY IL-MADISON IL-ST. CLAIR IL-MONROE IL-KNOX-LEWIS-
SHELBY-MARION-MONROE-RALLS-PIKE-BOONE-AUDRAIN-MONITEAU-COLE-OSAGE-
CALLAWAY-MONTGOMERY-LINCOLN-GASCONADE-WARREN-ST. CHARLES-FRANKLIN-
ST. LOUIS-ST. LOUIS CITY-JEFFERSON-CRAWFORD-WASHINGTON-
ST. FRANCOIS-STE. GENEVIEVE-IRON-MADISON-REYNOLDS-
344 PM CST MON JAN 7 2008

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN AND
CENTRAL MISSOURI AS WELL AS WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT

SCATTERED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE NIGHT.
THE MOST LIKELY LOCATION FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH EARLY
EVENING WILL BE OVER CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST MISSOURI AS WELL AS
WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS. THIS THREAT WILL SPREAD EASTWARD THIS
EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. THESE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING
LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND TORNADOES WELL INTO THE OVERNIGHT
HOURS. IN ADDITION...THESE STORMS WILL ALSO PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY
RAINFALL.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY

THE CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUES ON TUESDAY...PRIMARILY
ACROSS EASTERN MISSOURI AND SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS. SOME STORMS COULD
BE SEVERE ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS ON TUESDAY.

THERE IS A CHANCE OF SNOW ACROSS THE AREA ON THURSDAY AND THURSDAY
NIGHT. THERE IS ALSO A CHANCE OF SNOW OVER SOUTHEAST MISSOURI AS
WELL AS SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS ON SATURDAY NIGHT AND
SUNDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS LIKELY THROUGH THE NIGHT.

&&

FOR A GRAPHICAL VERSION OF THIS INFORMATION SEE OUR
WEBPAGE AT (LOWERCASE)... HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/LSX/?N=HWO1

BRITT

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jan 7, 3:35 PM CST, 20 minutes before
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Local storm report, Jan 7, 3:36 PM CST, 19 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
336 PM CST MON JAN 07 2008

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0334 PM     HAIL             COLUMBIA                38.95N 92.33W
01/07/2008  E1.00 INCH       BOONE              MO   TRAINED SPOTTER

            AT THE INTERSECTION OF COLLEGE AVENUE AND BUSINESS LOOP
            70.

&&

SIPPRELL
Local storm report, Jan 7, 3:42 PM CST, 13 minutes before
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Local storm report, Jan 7, 3:43 PM CST, 12 minutes before
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Local storm report, Jan 7, 3:48 PM CST, 7 minutes before
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Local storm report, Jan 7, 3:54 PM CST, 1 minute before
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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

9.9 hours before the tornado, 291 km from the path. January 7, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2008-01-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 203 joules per kilogram, CIN -79, lifted condensation level 773 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 2008-01-07The 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 404 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 61 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
203 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-79 J/kg
Surface CAPE
12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
773 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
61 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
404 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
396 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.2
0-3 km lapse rate
5.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 00:00Z

2.1 hours after it, 291 km from the path. January 8, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2008-01-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 765 joules per kilogram, CIN -14, lifted condensation level 955 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 2008-01-08The 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 281 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 58 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
765 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-14 J/kg
Surface CAPE
725 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
955 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
58 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
281 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
338 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.7
Supercell composite
7.2
0-3 km lapse rate
6.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Columbia (COU), 36 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
00:00 UTC

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

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 117 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:54 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.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2008 tornado in MissouriEvery tornado in Missouri since 1950Warnings in force in Missouri nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of January 7, 2008

33 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
January 72:22 PM CSTEF0St. Clair, MO0.120
January 72:54 PM CSTEF0Benton, MO0.225$20,000
January 73:30 PM CSTEF3Boone, IL13.11005$4.0 million
January 74:02 PM CSTEF3Walworth, WI10.820015$14 million
January 74:39 PM CSTEF1Kenosha, WI2.575$7.9 million
January 75:06 PM CSTEF2Barry, MO12.4200$500,000
January 75:22 PM CSTEF1Tazewell, IL3.0100$30,000
January 75:50 PM CSTEF0McDonald, MO0.320
January 75:57 PM CSTEF2Greene, MO6.4200$2.0 million
January 76:29 PM CSTEF3Greene, MO50.4300318$19 million
January 77:28 PM CSTEF0Lawrence, MO6.450$75,000
January 77:32 PM CSTEF2Greene, MO6.7300$1.0 million
January 77:42 PM CSTEF2Webster, MO8.6200$1.0 million
January 77:50 PM CSTEF0Gasconade, MO0.350
January 78:05 PM CSTEF0Benton, AR0.150
January 78:06 PM CSTEF3Pulaski, MO1.84003$1.0 million
January 78:08 PM CSTEF0Adair, OK0.150
January 78:09 PM CSTEF3Phelps, MO4.7400$110,000
January 78:15 PM CSTEF1McDonald, MO7.4100$300,000
January 78:30 PM CSTEF0Pike, MO5.040
January 78:40 PM CSTEF0Pike, IL2.440
January 78:42 PM CSTEF1Webster, MO5.2150$50,000
January 78:50 PM CSTEF0Benton, AR0.150
January 79:00 PM CSTEF2Laclede, MO5.4300$100,000
January 79:12 PM CSTEF0Barry, MO0.120
January 79:36 PM CSTEF1Christian, MO0.41001$200,000
January 79:40 PM CSTEF1Phelps, MO3.8100$5,000
January 79:57 PM CSTEF0Webster, MO10.650$8,000
January 710:28 PM CSTEF0Cherokee, OK1.8500$25,000
January 710:43 PM CSTEF0Maries, MO11.31001$5.0 million
January 711:09 PM CSTEF1Benton, AR2.685
January 711:38 PM CSTEF0Wagoner, OK0.575
January 711:54 PM CSTEF0Wagoner, OK2.7100

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.