Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2008

EF1 tornado, Ewing, Missouri, May 30, 2008

Name: EF1 tornado, Ewing, Missouri, May 30, 2008
Start: 2008-05-30T22:10:00.000Z
End: 2008-05-30T22:14:00.000Z
Location: Ewing, Missouri

This EF1 tornado ran 3.4 miles across Lewis County on May 30, 2008, touching down at 5:10 PM CDT and reaching 70 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $10,000 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 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
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: EF1
Date: May 30, 2008
Touchdown: 5:10 PM CDT (22:10 UTC)
Lifted: 5:14 PM CDT (22:14 UTC)
On the ground: 4 minutes
Path length: 3.4 miles (5.4 km)
Path width: 70 yards (64 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $10,000
County: Lewis County
Touchdown point: 40.015, -91.740
Lift-off point: 40.031, -91.680
Record number: 0805301610-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Late afternoon and evening severe thunderstorms triggered by a northward moving warm front produced hail, wind damage, a couple of small tornadoes, and localized flash flooding across Northeast and East Central Missouri.

The tornado first formed about 1/4 mile east of Highway 6 on Heritage Road where it damaged several pine trees. The tornado moved east-northeast and damaged three machine sheds. The tornado then snapped several utility poles and damaged more machine sheds. Some of the debris from the machine sheds was tossed 200 yards with two by four boards driven into the ground. The tornado continued to damage trees just west of Highway C. The tornado crossed Highway C and damaged a machine shed and grain bin.

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 19:55 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 May 30, 2:51 PM CDT, 2 hours 19 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 30, 2:51 PM CDT, 2 hours 19 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
251 PM CDT FRI MAY 30 2008

.DISCUSSION...
/250 PM CDT FRI MAY 30 2008/
A COLD FRONT EXTENDED FROM EASTERN WI ACROSS NORTHWEST MO INTO
NORTHWEST OK AT THIS TIME. THE FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO SAG SLOWLY
SOUTHEASTWARD TONIGHT. BY NOON SATURDAY, EXPECT THE FRONT WILL
EXTEND FROM SOUTHERN IL ACROSS SOUTH MO INTO NORTHERN OK. WEAK HIGH
PRESSURE WILL BUILD INTO THE AREA ON SATURDAY BEHIND THE FRONT.

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED FROM NORTHWEST MO ACROSS
NORTHEAST MO AHEAD OF THE FRONT. THE LATEST LAPS DATA INDICATED
CAPES HAVE INCREASED TO ABOVE 3000 J/KG FROM CENTRAL MO INTO
NORTHWEST MO. LIS ARE IN THE -5 TO -6 RANGE. SURFACE DEWPOINTS ARE
IN THE MID 60S TO NEAR 70 ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA. TORNADO WATCH IS
IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM FOR MUCH OF THE AREA. A BAND OF MID 30S TO LOW
40S K INDICES IS FORECAST BY THE MODELS ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA
EARLY THIS EVENING.

MUCH DRIER AIR IS FORECAST TO DROP DOWN ACROSS THE AREA ON SATURDAY.
EXPECT SCATTERED CONVECTION ACROSS PORTIONS OF CENTRAL MO ACROSS THE
EASTERN OZARKS DURING THE AFTERNOON. EXPECT SCATTERED CONVECTION
ACROSS SOUTH MO SATURDAY NIGHT IN THE VICINITY OF THE FRONT.

A DEEP UPPER TROF IS FORECAST TO DIG INTO THE CENTRAL ROCKIES BY
EARLY THURSDAY. THE ECMWF IS MUCH DEEPER WITH THIS SYSTEM THAN THE
GFS. THE SURFACE LOW THAT IS FORECAST TO DEVELOP OVER THE CENTRAL
PLAINS LOOKS MORE LIKE EARLY APRIL THAN EARLY JUNE.

TPS
&&

.AVIATION...
/1251 PM CDT FRI MAY 30 2008/
FOR THE 18Z TAFS...CONVECTION HAS DIMINISHED ACROSS NORTHEASTERN MO
AND WEST CENTRAL IL. THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO RE-INITIATE AFTER
19Z FOR KUIN AND AFTER 22Z FOR COU...SUS AND STL BASED ON LATEST
MODEL GUIDANCE. THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY BE STRONG TO SEVERE...MAINLY
THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO THE EVENING HOURS. THEN SKIES TO GRADUALLY
CLEAR AS WINDS SWITCH TO THE NORTHWEST BY 14Z TO 15Z TOMORROW.

BYRD

&&

.LSX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MO...NONE.
IL...NONE.
&&

WFO LSX

Hazardous weather outlook, May 30, 3:39 PM CDT, 1 hour 31 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
339 PM CDT FRI MAY 30 2008

ILZ058>060-064-065-069-070-074-079-095>102-MOZ018-019-026-027-
034>036-041-042-047>052-059>065-072>075-084-085-099-311200-
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-
339 PM CDT FRI MAY 30 2008

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

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT

THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER MUCH OF THE
AREA THIS EVENING. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE LIKELY LATE THIS
AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING HOURS. SOME OF THESE
STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WIND
GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL AND TORNADOES.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS A PORTION OF SOUTHEAST
MISSOURI SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND SATURDAY NIGHT.

THE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS RETURNS TO THE REGION MONDAY AND
MONDAY NIGHT.

THERE IS YET ANOTHER CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS A PORTION OF
THE AREA FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE NEEDED THIS EVENING.

&&

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

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 30, 4:42 PM CDT, 28 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
442 PM CDT FRI MAY 30 2008

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

0425 PM     TSTM WND DMG     2 S NEW SALEM           39.68N  90.85W
05/30/2008                   PIKE               IL   TRAINED SPOTTER

            BARN BLOW DOWN ON NEW SALEM BLACKTOP ONE MILE NORTH OF
            EXIT 31 ON INTERSTATE 72.

&&

EVENT NUMBER 00194

BYRD

Local storm report, May 30, 4:52 PM CDT, 18 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
452 PM CDT FRI MAY 30 2008

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

0433 PM     TSTM WND DMG     5 SW GRIGGSVILLE        39.66N  90.79W
05/30/2008                   PIKE               IL   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            DAMAGE TO HOME...TREES...AND MACHINE SHED 3...4 MILE
            NORTH OF INTERSTATE 72 MILE MARKER 31

&&

EVENT NUMBER 00195

FGLASS

Local storm report, May 30, 4:56 PM CDT, 14 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
456 PM CDT FRI MAY 30 2008

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

0454 PM     HAIL             6 E PARIS               39.48N  91.89W
05/30/2008  E0.88 INCH       MONROE             MO   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            NICKLE SIZE HAIL OCCURRED NEAR INDIAN CREEK

&&

EVENT NUMBER 00196

FGLASS

Local storm report, May 30, 4:57 PM CDT, 13 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
457 PM CDT FRI MAY 30 2008

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

0455 PM     HAIL             9 SW MOUNT STERLING     39.89N  90.88W
05/30/2008  E0.75 INCH       BROWN              IL   LAW ENFORCEMENT

&&

EVENT NUMBER 00197

SIPPRELL

Local storm report, May 30, 5:02 PM CDT, 8 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
502 PM CDT FRI MAY 30 2008

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

0501 PM     HAIL             INDIAN CREEK            39.59N  91.78W
05/30/2008  E1.75 INCH       MONROE             MO   LAW ENFORCEMENT

            GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL REPORTED IN INDIAN CREEK.

&&

EVENT NUMBER 00198

PRZYBYLINSKI

Local storm report, May 30, 5:08 PM CDT, 2 minutes 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.

Davenport, (KDVN), 12:00Z

10.2 hours before the tornado, 205 km from the path. May 30, 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: 349 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -110 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 23 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 605 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 73 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 186 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 272 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 3.3
0-3 km lapse rate: 4.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Davenport, (KDVN), 00:00Z

1.8 hours after it, 205 km from the path. May 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

Mixed-layer CAPE: 897 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -35 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 2261 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1073 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 66 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 7 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 54 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.3
Supercell composite: 2.5
0-3 km lapse rate: 6.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Quincy (UIN), 45 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 St Louis radar (KLSX), 172 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:12 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 May 30, 2008

18 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Injuries	Damage
May 30	4:13 AM CDT	EF1	Clarke, IA	9.1	150		$50,000
May 30	4:51 AM CDT	EF1	Warren, IA	7.2	125		$80,000
May 30	5:07 AM CDT	EF2	Marion, IA	19.2	900	10	$825,000
May 30	3:37 PM CDT	EF0	Stevens, MN	0.1	20
May 30	4:25 PM CDT	EF1	Pike, IL	1.4	50		$5,000
May 30	5:14 PM CDT	EF0	Ralls, MO	3.3	50		$30,000
May 30	6:15 PM EDT	EF1	Wabash, IN	0.2	50		$100,000
May 30	6:22 PM EDT	EF0	Wabash, IN	0.1	25		$40,000
May 30	6:15 PM CDT	EF0	Pike, IL	3.9	40
May 30	7:30 PM EDT	EF0	Carroll, IN	0.1	30
May 30	7:17 PM CDT	EF1	Morgan, IL	4.8	100		$192,000
May 30	8:20 PM CDT	EF0	Christian, IL	0.0	10
May 30	8:33 PM CDT	EF0	Shelby, IL	1.1	30
May 30	10:27 PM EDT	EF2	Marion, IN	7.1	150	18	$29 million
May 30	10:35 PM EDT	EF1	Hancock, IN	4.5	200		$500,000
May 30	10:57 PM CDT	EF0	Adams, IN to OH	0.3	25		$61,000
May 30	12:28 AM EDT	EF0	Putnam, OH	3.2	464		$1.2 million
May 30	1:29 AM EDT	EF2	Hancock, OH	8.3	100	6	$1.8 million

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.