Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2008

EF0 tornado, Willholt, Missouri, March 31, 2008

Name: EF0 tornado, Willholt, Missouri, March 31, 2008
Start: 2008-03-31T22:12:00.000Z
End: 2008-03-31T22:13:00.000Z
Location: Willholt, Missouri

This EF0 tornado ran 0.2 miles across Ozark County on March 31, 2008, touching down at 5:12 PM CDT and reaching 20 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $1,000 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.

EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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: March 31, 2008
Touchdown: 5:12 PM CDT (22:12 UTC)
Lifted: 5:13 PM CDT (22:13 UTC)
On the ground: 1 minutes
Path length: 0.2 miles (0.3 km)
Path width: 20 yards (18 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $1,000
County: Ozark County
Touchdown point: 36.667, -92.519
Lift-off point: 36.669, -92.517
Record number: 0803311612-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Eleven tornadoes and significant flash flooding occurred in response to several clusters of thunderstorms impacting the Missouri Ozarks. The ground was saturated from record rainfall in both the months of February and March.

A National Weather Service storm survey revealed that an EF-0 tornado caused minor damage to a turkey barn.

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

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 Springfield, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at Mar 31, 4:02 PM CDT, 1 hour 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 31, 4:02 PM CDT, 1 hour 10 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
402 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2008

.DISCUSSION...

VERY ACTIVE DAY ACROSS THE OZARKS. SQUALL LINE CONTINUES TO
CONGEAL ACROSS THE AREA AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT THAT IS JUST NOW
ENTERING WESTERNMOST MISSOURI. SUBSTANTIAL WIND RISK ASSOCIATED
WITH THIS SQUALL LINE WITH WINDS UP TO 80 MPH POSSIBLE.

TONIGHT...PRIMARY CONCERNS ARE TIMING THE ONGOING SQUALL LINE.
WILL LIKELY NEED TO MAKE ALTERATIONS POST PACKAGE ISSUANCE TO MORE
PROPERLY ASSESS RAINFALL POTENTIAL. WILL MOST LIKELY BE CUTTING
POPS OVER WESTERN ZONE FURTHER AS THE COLD FRONT IS BEGINNING TO
MAKE PROGRESS EAST. WILL NEED TO MONITOR CLOUD COVERAGE
TONIGHT...SOME CLEARING IS EXPECTED...ESPECIALLY ACROSS SOUTHERN
ZONES. THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE CWA WILL STILL BE PRONE TO
TRAPPED LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AND CYCLONIC FLOW WITH THE DEPARTING
SFC LOW. GENERALLY HELD AT MAV WHERE CLOUDS WILL LINGER AND A
LITTLE LOWER WHERE CLEARING IS EXPECTED.

TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT...925/850MB THERMAL TROUGH MOVES
OVERHEAD TUESDAY. MAY STILL BE A LINGERING STRATUS ISSUE FOR
NORTHERN COUNTIES EARLY ON...BUT CLEARING SHOULD OCCUR BY THE
AFTERNOON. INCREASE IN HIGH CLOUDS EXPECTED TUESDAY NIGHT.
GENERALLY HELD CLOSE TO MAV FOR HIGHS AND BELOW FOR LOWS WHICH
WILL FLIRT WITH THE FREEZING MARK...ESPECIALLY NORTHERN ZONES.

WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY...UNFORTUNATELY...OUR ACTIVE PATTERN LOOKS
TO CONTINUE. ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM WILL TAKE SHAPE OVER THE REGION
BEGINNING WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...AND ESPECIALLY WEDNESDAY NIGHT
THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT. WARM FRONT WILL ONCE AGAIN MOVE INTO THE
REGION AND ANOTHER SERIES OF DISTURBANCES WILL MOVE THROUGH THE
MIDDLE OF THE NATION. MULTIPLE ROUND OF SHRA/TSRA WILL ONCE AGAIN
LEAD TO ANOTHER SIZABLE RISK OF HEAVY RAIN AND FLOODING. CANNOT
RULE OUT SEVERE STORMS EITHER WITH THE DEVELOPMENT AND PASSAGE OF
LOW PRESSURE ALONG THE BOUNDARY. ANOTHER COUPLE OF INCHES OF RAIN
APPEAR LIKELY FOR PORTIONS OF THE OUTLOOK AREA. THE CURRENT ESF
HANDLES THE SITUATION WELL. HAVE INCREASED POPS A BIT FOR THIS
TIME FRAME GIVEN WET MODELS AND STRONG SIGNALS FROM THE ENSEMBLE
AVERAGE POP. TEMPERATURES WILL BE QUITE TRICKY AND DEPENDENT ON
WARM FRONT LOCATION...HELD CLOSE TO WARMER MAV NUMBERS. WHICH ARE
AT OR ABOVE AVERAGE SOUTH OF THE FRONT AND BELOW AVERAGE NORTH OF
THE FRONT.

IN THE EXTENDED FORECAST...FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY...CONSIDERABLE
MODEL DIFFERENCES FROM THE 00Z SUITE SEEM TO BE CONVERGING A BIT
WITH THE 12Z SOLUTIONS...ALTHOUGH TRUST IN THIS REMAIN TENUOUS.
THE UPPER PATTERN SHOULD EVOLVE TO A MORE ZONAL ORIENTATION...
BUT A FEW RIPPLES IN THE FLOW ARE STILL POSSIBLE. STORM SYSTEM
RESPONSIBLE FOR WED/THUR RAINS SHOULD BE EXITING STAGE EAST EARLY
FRIDAY. BEYOND FRIDAY...HAVE KEPT ANY RAIN CHANCES ON THE LOW
SIDE DUE TO LOW CONFIDENCE IN TIMING ANY PARTICULAR WAVES. AT
THIS POINT...PRESENT INDICATIONS POINT TO NEAR AVERAGE TEMPERATURES.

GAGAN

&&

.AVIATION...

FOR THE 18Z TAFS...STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ASSOCIATED WITH A
COLD FRONT WILL AFFECT BOTH TERMINALS THROUGH 00Z AT JLN AND 02Z AT
SGF. CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES WILL BE IFR TO LIFR NEAR
THUNDERSTORMS WITH GENERALLY MVFR CONDITION AHEAD AND JUST BEHIND
THE FRONT. SEVERE STORMS WILL PRODUCE WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 50
KTS WITH LARGE HAIL ALSO POSSIBLE. GUSTY SUSTAINED SOUTH WINDS OF
20 TO 30 KTS CAN BE EXPECTED. WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE WEST AND
NORTHWEST BEHIND THE FRONT WITH VFR CEILINGS EXPECTED AFTER THE
FRONT PASSES. WINDS WILL LIGHTEN UP OVERNIGHT WITH A HIGH OVERCAST
EXPECTED.

&&

.SGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MO...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON FOR MOZ055>058-
     066>071-077>083-088>098-101>106.

KS...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOON FOR KSZ073-097-101.

&&

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 31, 1:04 PM CDT, 4 hours 8 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
104 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2008

KSZ073-097-101-MOZ055>058-066>071-077>083-088>098-101>106-011815-
BOURBON-CRAWFORD-CHEROKEE-BENTON-MORGAN-MILLER-MARIES-VERNON-
ST. CLAIR-HICKORY-CAMDEN-PULASKI-PHELPS-BARTON-CEDAR-POLK-DALLAS-
LACLEDE-TEXAS-DENT-JASPER-DADE-GREENE-WEBSTER-WRIGHT-NEWTON-
LAWRENCE-CHRISTIAN-DOUGLAS-HOWELL-SHANNON-MCDONALD-BARRY-STONE-
TANEY-OZARK-OREGON-
104 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2008

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF THE MISSOURI
OZARKS AND EXTREME SOUTHEAST KANSAS.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

  WEATHER HAZARDS EXPECTED:

 DAMAGING WIND UP TO 70 MPH.
 LARGE HAIL UP TO GOLF BALL SIZE.
 ISOLATED TORNADOES.
 FLASH FLOODING.

  AREAS AFFECTED AND TIMING:

 NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL TRACK NORTHEAST ACROSS
 THE OUTLOOK AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AS A COLD FRONT
 SWEEPS ACROSS THE AREA FROM WEST TO EAST. THIS ACTIVITY WILL
 CONTINUE TO EXPAND IN AREAS ALONG AND WEST OF A LINE FROM
 CASSVILLE TO SPRINGFIELD TO OSAGE BEACH THROUGH 400 PM...THIS
 INCLUDES EXTREME SOUTHEAST KANSAS AND MUCH OF WESTERN AND CENTRAL
 MISSOURI.

THUNDERSTORMS WILL PROGRESSIVELY SPREAD TO THE EAST THIS AFTERNOON. THE
RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL STEADILY INCREASE FROM WEST TO
EAST FOR AREAS ALONG AND EAST OF A LINE FROM CASSVILLE TO
SPRINGFIELD TO OSAGE BEACH AFTER 300 PM.

 THE RISK FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL END AFTER THE COLD FRONT MOVES
 THROUGH THE AREA. AT 100 PM...THE COLD FRONT WAS LOCATED OVER
 EASTERN KANSAS BACK INTO CENTRAL OKLAHOMA. THE FRONT WILL MOVE
INTO AREAS NEAR THE MISSOURI KANSAS STATE LINE AFTER 4 PM...MOVING
THROUGH THE WARSAW...BOLIVAR...SPRINGFIELD AND REEDS SPRING AREAS
BY 8 PM AND THE EASTERN OZARKS AFTER MIDNIGHT.

  DISCUSSION:

 SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AHEAD OF THE
 COLD FRONT THIS AFTERNOON. AMPLE MOISTURE...INSTABILITY AND WIND
 SHEAR WILL BE AVAILABLE AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT TO MAINTAIN THE
 RISK OF TORNADOES...HAIL TO THE SIZE OF GOLF BALLS AND WIND GUSTS
 TO 70 MPH. HEADING INTO THIS EVENING...THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED
 TO COMBINE INTO A SQUALL LINE. THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER RISKS
WITH THIS SQUALL LINE WILL BE WIND GUSTS UP TO 70 MPH AND HAIL TO
THE SIZE OF GOLF BALLS...HOWEVER ISOLATED TORNADOES WITHIN THE
LINE OF STORMS CANNOT BE RULED OUT.

 IN ADDITION TO SEVERE WEATHER...HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLASH FLOODING
 IS EXPECTED AS WELL. ONE TO THREE INCHES OF RAINFALL WILL
 ACCOMPANY THESE THUNDERSTORMS. VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS OF RAIN WITHIN
 THIS ACTIVITY WILL LEAD TO RAPID RAINFALL ACCUMULATION.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY.

  ANOTHER ROUND OF FLOODING AND SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE POSSIBLE
  WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY. HEAVY RAINFALL IS EXPECTED
  ACROSS THE OUTLOOK AREA ALONG AND NORTH OF A STALLED FRONT.
  THERE WILL BE AT LEAST A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE STORMS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

 SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED TODAY AND TONIGHT.

&&

THIS PRODUCT IS NOW AVAILABLE IN GRAPHICAL FORMAT...ALONG WITH
OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION...AT
HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/SGF(ALL LOWERCASE)

GAGAN

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 31, 4:44 PM CDT, 28 minutes before

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Local storm report, Mar 31, 4:47 PM CDT, 25 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
447 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2008

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

0445 PM     HAIL             AVA                     36.95N 92.66W
03/31/2008  E0.88 INCH       DOUGLAS            MO   EMERGENCY MNGR

&&

JSCHAUM

Local storm report, Mar 31, 4:49 PM CDT, 23 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
449 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2008

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

0310 PM     TSTM WND DMG     SPRINGFIELD             37.20N 93.29W
03/31/2008                   GREENE             MO   AMATEUR RADIO

            LIMBS DOWN AROUND PARKVIEW HIGH SCHOOL

&&

JSCHAUM

Local storm report, Mar 31, 4:52 PM CDT, 20 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
452 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2008

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

0430 PM     HAIL             4 N AVA                 37.01N 92.66W
03/31/2008  M0.88 INCH       DOUGLAS            MO   EMERGENCY MNGR

            HAIL REPORTED MEASURING 0.88 INCHES IN DIAMETER.

&&

KARDELL

Local storm report, Mar 31, 4:55 PM CDT, 17 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
455 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2008

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

0449 PM     FLASH FLOOD      AVA                     36.95N 92.66W
03/31/2008                   DOUGLAS            MO   AMATEUR RADIO

            LOW WATER CROSSINGS FLOODED.

&&

JSCHAUM

Local storm report, Mar 31, 5:06 PM CDT, 6 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
506 PM CDT MON MAR 31 2008

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

0353 PM     TSTM WND DMG     LEBANON                 37.68N 92.66W
03/31/2008                   LACLEDE            MO   BROADCAST MEDIA

            ROOF BLOW OFF A BODY SHOP ON THE NORTHEAST OUTER ROAD IN
            LEBANON.

&&

KARDELL

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

10.2 hours before the tornado, 117 km from the path. March 31, 2008.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

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: 640 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -126 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 395 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 596 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 48 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 336 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 354 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.6
Supercell composite: 10.7
0-3 km lapse rate: 4.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 00:00Z

1.8 hours after it, 117 km from the path. April 1, 2008.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

Mixed-layer CAPE: 25 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -145 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 571 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 51 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 134 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 88 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0
0-3 km lapse rate: 4.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Mountain Home/Baxter County (BPK), 33 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

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

The radar

The Springfield radar (KSGF), 101 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:11 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 track Every 2008 tornado in Missouri Every tornado in Missouri since 1950 Warnings in force in Missouri now The forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of March 31, 2008

20 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
March 31	1:23 AM CDT	EF0	Oklahoma, OK	0.2	20
March 31	1:39 AM CDT	EF1	Oklahoma, OK	3.5	100		$450,000
March 31	5:46 AM CDT	EF1	Osage, OK	5.5	250		$50,000
March 31	7:25 AM CDT	EF0	Washington, OK	0.2	100
March 31	9:20 AM CDT	EF0	Noble, OK	0.1	20		$5,000
March 31	9:48 AM CDT	EF0	Hickory, MO	3.4	100		$25,000
March 31	10:09 AM CDT	EF0	Lawrence, MO	0.5	40		$20,000
March 31	10:33 AM CDT	EF0	Vernon, MO	0.2	10
March 31	11:59 AM CDT	EF0	Cedar, MO	0.6	75		$5,000
March 31	1:44 PM CDT	EF1	Ottawa, OK to MO	5.4	200		$125,000
March 31	1:59 PM CDT	EF0	Newton, MO	3.8	80	3	$100,000
March 31	2:17 PM CDT	EF2	Dallas, MO	4.7	300	3	$1.0 million
March 31	2:46 PM CDT	EF2	Laclede, MO	1.8	75		$500,000
March 31	3:05 PM CDT	EF0	Johnson, TX	0.8	40		$35,000
March 31	3:10 PM CDT	EF0	Johnson, TX	1.5	40		$75,000
March 31	4:45 PM CDT	EF0	Monroe, IL	1.8	30
March 31	5:06 PM CDT	EF0	Polk, MO	0.8	50		$25,000
March 31	5:47 PM CDT	EF0	Howell, MO	0.0	20		$10,000
March 31	7:10 PM CDT	EF0	Choctaw, OK	0.1	75
March 31	7:31 PM CDT	EF1	McCurtain, OK	4.9	450		$10,000

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.