Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2008

EF0 tornado, Eagle Rock, Missouri, September 2, 2008

This EF0 tornado ran 0.3 miles across Barry County on September 2, 2008, touching down at 5:15 PM CDT and reaching 75 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
September 2, 2008
Touchdown
5:15 PM CDT (22:15 UTC)
Lifted
5:17 PM CDT (22:17 UTC)
On the ground
2 minutes
Path length
0.3 miles (0.6 km)
Path width
75 yards (69 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$5,000
County
Barry County
Touchdown point
36.532, -93.719
Lift-off point
36.534, -93.725
Record number
0809021615-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Following the landfall of Hurricane Gustav along the Louisiana coast, Gustav's extra-tropical circulation tracked directly into southern Missouri. The remnant moisture from Gustav created widespread rainfall amounts ranging from two to six inches across the region. Pre-existing dry soil conditions and thick summertime vegetation limited flooding from becoming widespread and significant. However, some localized flooding was observed. One tornado occurred in the community of Chain of Lakes in southeast Barry County. Minor damage occurred and the tornado was rated as an EF-0.

A National Weather Service storm survey revealed that an EF-0 tornado touched down on the far western end of Table Rock Lake, and tracked into the community of Chain of Lakes. The tornado damaged several trees and removed shingles off of a frame house near Lake View Road.

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

The warnings

28 minutes of warning. NWS SGF issued a tornado warning for this county at 21:47 UTC, 28 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:15 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
21:47 UTC22:15 UTCTornado WarningSGF
22:14 UTC22:45 UTCTornado WarningSGF
23:06 UTC23:45 UTCTornado 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 General Thunderstorms Risk. The outlook in force was issued at 19:36 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

10.3 hours before the tornado, 41 km from the path. September 2, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2008-09-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 477 joules per kilogram, CIN -73, lifted condensation level 830 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 2008-09-02The 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 -58 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 15 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
477 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-73 J/kg
Surface CAPE
10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
830 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-58 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-19 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 00:00Z

1.7 hours after it, 41 km from the path. September 3, 2008.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2008-09-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 492 joules per kilogram, CIN -10, lifted condensation level 781 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 2008-09-03The 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 48 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 15 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
492 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Surface CAPE
848 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
781 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
48 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
149 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5
0-3 km lapse rate
6.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Rogers (Awos) (ROG), 39 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
20:50 UTC73.473.440° 12 kt1012.9-RA
21:50 UTC73.473.450° 11 kt181013.2-RA BR
22:52 UTC73.471.650° 14 kt25.181013.5
23:50 UTC71.671.650° 15 kt191012.9-RA

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

The radar

The Springfield radar (KSGF), 83 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:55 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
22:12 UTCTSTM WND DMGEagle RockBarry, MOSEVERAL TREES DAMAGED.
22:12 UTCTORNADO2 Ese Eagle RockBarry, MOA NWS STORM SURVEY HAS CONFIRMED EYEWITNESS REPORTS OF A WEAK SHORT LIVED TORNADO THAT DEVELOPED AT TABLE ROCK LAKE MOVED WNW AND LIFTED NEAR LAKEVIEW LANE IN THE CHAIN OF LAKES. TORNADO WINDS ARE ESTIMATED AT 60 MPH WIT

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

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 September 2, 2008

19 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 23:23 AM CDTEF0Smith, MS0.325
September 27:40 AM CDTEF0Smith, MS1.025
September 28:44 AM CDTEF0Jones, MS0.430$80,000
September 29:19 AM CDTEF0Jones, MS0.725$5,000
September 210:12 AM CDTEF0Newton, MS4.140$13,000
September 21:47 PM CDTEF0Lincoln, MS0.330
September 22:32 PM CDTEF0Saint Tammany Parish, LA0.220$15,000
September 22:48 PM CDTEF1Covington, MS5.075$425,000
September 23:17 PM CDTEF1Copiah, MS2.5100$200,000
September 23:26 PM CDTEF0Yalobusha, MS0.025$200
September 23:45 PM CDTEF0Copiah, MS1.540
September 24:17 PM CDTEF0Lafayette, MS0.125
September 25:04 PM CDTEF0Lincoln, MS0.430
September 25:10 PM CDTEF0Avoyelles Parish, LA0.125
September 25:40 PM CDTEF1Jefferson Parish, LA1.625$1.7 million
September 25:50 PM CDTEF0Izard, AR0.960$25,000
September 27:08 PM CDTEF0Allen Parish, LA2.950$30,000
September 28:15 PM CDTEF0Saint Tammany Parish, LA0.220$100,000
September 210:25 PM CDTEF1Catahoula Parish, LA5.875$600,000

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.