Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2009
EF1 tornado, Evening Shade, Missouri, August 19, 2009
This EF1 tornado ran 0.8 miles across Texas County on August 19, 2009, touching down at 12:05 AM CDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody and injured 1, and did $25,000 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
- August 19, 2009
- Touchdown
- 12:05 AM CDT (05:05 UTC)
- Lifted
- 12:06 AM CDT (05:06 UTC)
- On the ground
- 1 minutes
- Path length
- 0.8 miles (1.2 km)
- Path width
- 100 yards (91 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 1
- Property damage
- $25,000
- County
- Texas County
- Touchdown point
- 37.600, -92.140
- Lift-off point
- 37.602, -92.129
- Record number
- 0908192305-01
What the Weather Service recorded
A squall line of thunderstorms produced a tornado, damaging winds, hail and flash flooding.
A National Weather Service storm survey rated the tornado an EF-1. The tornado rolled a mobile home resulting in 1 injury. The tornado produced a path three quarters of a mile long with a width of 100 yards.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down.
The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 04:41 UTC and running to 08:55 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 21:00 UTC | 08:58 UTC | Flash Flood Watch | SGF |
| 04:41 UTC | 08:55 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SGF |
| 04:48 UTC | 06:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | SGF |
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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:54 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), 00:00Z
5.1 hours before the tornado, 167 km from the path. August 20, 2009.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 14 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -250 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 39 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1306 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 37 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 22 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 154 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 363 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 3.3
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.3 K/km
Springfield, MO (KSGF), 12:00Z
6.9 hours after it, 167 km from the path. August 20, 2009.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 94 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -234 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 809 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 60 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 16 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 128 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 193 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- -0.8
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 3.9 K/km
The radar
The Springfield radar (KSGF), 119 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 05:03 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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 04:37 UTC | TSTM WND GST 55 | Lebanon | Laclede, MO | |
| 04:40 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Lebanon | Laclede, MO | TREE DOWN ON A PROPANE TANK. TANK IS LEAKING AND FIRE DEPARTMENT ENROUTE |
| 04:45 UTC | TSTM WND GST 54 | Lebanon | Laclede, MO | |
| 04:50 UTC | TSTM WND GST 70 | 2 S Laquey | Pulaski, MO | LARGE WOODEN SWING SET AND TRAMPOLINE DESTROYED. WINDS WERE ESTIMATED AT 60 TO 70 MPH. |
| 04:53 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Se Falcon | Laclede, MO | LARGE LIMBS DOWNED ONE MILE NORTH OF NEBO |
| 05:05 UTC | TORNADO 1 | 6 N Roby | Texas, MO | *** 1 INJ *** NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM CONCLUDED THAT A TORNADO PRODUCED DAMAGE RATED EF-1 ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE ACROSS FAR NORTHERN TEXAS COUNTY. DAMAGE OCCURRED ALONG A PATH THAT WAS THREE QUARTERS OF A MILE LONG A |
| 05:08 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Dixon | Pulaski, MO | TREES DOWN IN DIXON. ESTIMATED 60 MPH WINDS |
| 05:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 N Roby | Texas, MO | TRAILOR DESTROYED ON AW HIGHWAY NORTH OF ROBY. |
| 05:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 7 Sse Fort Leonard Wood | Texas, MO | TRAILOR DESTROYED ON AW HIGHWAY NORTH OF ROBY. |
| 05:20 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 N Roby | Texas, MO | *** 1 INJ *** A MOBILE HOME WAS COMPLETELY DESTROYED BY EITHER SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS OR A POSSIBLE TORNADO. A STORM SURVEY WILL LIKELY BE PERFORMED THIS AFTERNOON. |
| 05:38 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Salem | Dent, MO | SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS KNOCKED OVER SEVERAL TREES AND POWER POLES ACROSS MUCH OF DENT COUNTY. IN SALEM...A CONVENIENT STORE SUSTAINED ROOF DAMAGE...ALONG WITH DAMAGE TO A DISPLAY CASE. POWER HAS BEEN KNOCKED OUT |
| 06:03 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Salem | Dent, MO | SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS KNOCKED OVER SEVERAL TREES AND POWER POLES ACROSS MUCH OF DENT COUNTY. IN SALEM...A CONVENIENT STORE SUSTAINED ROOF DAMAGE...ALONG WITH DAMAGE TO A DISPLAY CASE. POWER HAS BEEN KNOCKED OUT |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2009 tornado in MissouriEvery tornado in Missouri since 1950Warnings in force in Missouri nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of August 19, 2009
29 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 19 | 1:50 PM CDT | EF0 | Hennepin, MN | 4.3 | 500 | $500,000 | ||
| August 19 | 2:10 PM CDT | EF1 | Scott, IL | 15.1 | 250 | $395,000 | ||
| August 19 | 2:16 PM CDT | EF1 | Dakota, MN | 1.6 | 50 | $25,000 | ||
| August 19 | 2:40 PM CDT | EF1 | Washington, MN | 0.7 | 75 | $100,000 | ||
| August 19 | 2:46 PM CDT | EF2 | Morgan, IL | 19.1 | 440 | 3 | $4.1 million | |
| August 19 | 2:57 PM CDT | EF0 | Pierce, WI | 0.2 | 10 | |||
| August 19 | 3:05 PM CDT | EF0 | Saint Croix, WI | 0.4 | 25 | $25,000 | ||
| August 19 | 3:07 PM CDT | EF0 | Anoka, MN | 0.0 | 10 | |||
| August 19 | 3:09 PM CDT | EF0 | Chickasaw, IA | 1.1 | 40 | $20,000 | ||
| August 19 | 3:17 PM CDT | EF1 | Sangamon, IL | 12.9 | 200 | $200,000 | ||
| August 19 | 3:19 PM CDT | EF3 | Sangamon, IL | 24.3 | 880 | 19 | $18 million | |
| August 19 | 3:25 PM CDT | EF0 | Washington, MN | 0.7 | 40 | $25,000 | ||
| August 19 | 3:50 PM CDT | EF0 | Howard, IA | 0.1 | 20 | |||
| August 19 | 3:50 PM CDT | EF0 | Fayette, IA | 3.5 | 40 | $22,000 | ||
| August 19 | 3:58 PM CDT | EF0 | Saint Croix, WI | 1.4 | 25 | |||
| August 19 | 4:00 PM CDT | EF0 | Chisago, MN | 0.9 | 200 | $100,000 | ||
| August 19 | 4:00 PM CDT | EF0 | Winneshiek, IA | 5.3 | 25 | $5,000 | ||
| August 19 | 4:04 PM CDT | EF0 | DeWitt, IL | 2.4 | 15 | $10,000 | ||
| August 19 | 4:11 PM CDT | EF0 | Saint Croix, WI | 1.7 | 25 | |||
| August 19 | 4:27 PM CDT | EF0 | McLean, IL | 2.5 | 20 | |||
| August 19 | 4:30 PM CDT | EF1 | Buchanan, IA | 2.2 | 100 | $75,000 | ||
| August 19 | 5:10 PM CDT | EF0 | Vermilion, IL | 4.7 | 50 | $80,000 | ||
| August 19 | 5:20 PM CDT | EF0 | Jones, IA | 0.1 | 50 | $5,000 | ||
| August 19 | 6:30 PM EDT | EF0 | Darke, OH | 0.1 | 20 | |||
| August 19 | 6:00 PM CDT | EF1 | Kane, IL | 1.0 | 40 | $25,000 | ||
| August 19 | 6:00 PM CDT | EF1 | Iroquois, IL | 2.8 | 50 | $100,000 | ||
| August 19 | 6:15 PM CDT | EF0 | Kane, IL | 0.8 | 30 | |||
| August 19 | 6:28 PM CDT | EF0 | Brown, MN | 3.7 | 20 | |||
| August 19 | 7:32 PM CDT | EF2 | Porter, IN | 4.0 | 60 | $1.5 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.