Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2009

EF1 tornado, Battlefield to Springfield, Missouri, February 10, 2009

From Battlefield to Springfield, this EF1 tornado ran 5.4 miles across Greene County on February 10, 2009, touching down at 10:43 PM CST and reaching 75 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $350,000 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 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado

    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
EF1
Date
February 10, 2009
Touchdown
10:43 PM CST (04:43 UTC)
Lifted
10:49 PM CST (04:49 UTC)
On the ground
6 minutes
Path length
5.4 miles (8.7 km)
Path width
75 yards (69 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$350,000
County
Greene County
Touchdown point
37.133, -93.337
Lift-off point
37.192, -93.271
Record number
0902102243-01

What the Weather Service recorded

A squall line moved over portions of the Missouri Ozarks during the evening of 10 February. Large hail, damaging winds, and one tornado occurred with this squall line.

A National Weather Service storm survey revealed that an EF-1 tornado intermittently caused damage to around one dozen homes and businesses across south and central Springfield. This tornado initially touched down near the intersection of Scenic and Republic Road, and ended near St. Johns Hospital.

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 tornado watch, issued at 23:33 UTC and running to 06:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
23:33 UTC06:00 UTCTornado WatchSGF
00:00 UTC18:00 UTCFlash Flood WatchSGF
04:58 UTC05:19 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGF
12:00 UTC19:17 UTCWind AdvisorySGF
14:41 UTC22:51 UTCFlood 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 01:01 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

4.7 hours before the tornado, 53 km from the path. February 11, 2009.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2009-02-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 7 joules per kilogram, CIN -98, lifted condensation level 1210 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 2009-02-11The 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 96 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 76 knots.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
7 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-98 J/kg
Surface CAPE
239 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1210 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
76 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
96 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
177 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4
0-3 km lapse rate
6.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 12:00Z

7.3 hours after it, 53 km from the path. February 11, 2009.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2009-02-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -86961, lifted condensation level 807 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2009-02-11The 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 -78 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 94 knots.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-86961 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
807 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
94 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
5 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-78 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
55 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Springfield (SGF), 11 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
02:52 UTC5857140° 15 kt1001.4
04:32 UTC5957.2120° 15 kt997.3
04:45 UTC5957.2190° 13 kt23999RA BR
04:52 UTC5755250° 21 kt291000-RA BR
04:54 UTC55.453.6270° 23 kt291000-RA
05:01 UTC53.651.8270° 19 kt311000.3-RA
05:11 UTC51.850270° 21 kt311001-RA
05:52 UTC5149280° 22 kt361001

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

The radar

The Springfield radar (KSGF), 12 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 04:45 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
03:59 UTCTSTM WND GST 50Mount VernonLawrence, MO
04:24 UTCTSTM WND GST 50Mount VernonLawrence, MO
04:50 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 S SpringfieldGreene, MOSEVERAL REPORTS OF STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO HOMES...TREES DOWN...AND POWER OUTAGES.
04:50 UTCTORNADOSpringfieldGreene, MOTHE INITIAL REPORTS FROM A NWS GROUND SURVEY INDICATE THAT A TORNADO INTERMITTENTLY CAUSED DAMAGE TO HOMES AND BUSINESSES ALONG WITH TREES AND POWER LINES STARTING SOUTHWEST OF THE INTERSTECTION OF REPUBLIC AND SCENIC EX
04:52 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Ne SpringfieldGreene, MOAMERICA INN SIGN TWISTED AND DAMAGED NEAR HIGHWAY 65 AND KEARNEY AVENUE
05:15 UTCTSTM WND GST 65BrunerChristian, MO
05:33 UTCTSTM WND GST 50SeymourWebster, MO

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 February 10, 2009

9 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 102:36 PM CSTEF1Oklahoma, OK0.775$1.0 million
February 102:53 PM CSTEF2Oklahoma, OK5.7250
February 103:24 PM CSTEF1Logan, OK1.010
February 103:39 PM CSTEF1Payne, OK9.650
February 104:35 PM CSTEF0Pawnee, OK2.6400$30,000
February 106:25 PM CSTEF0Montague, TX0.435$20,000
February 106:45 PM CSTEF4Lone Grove tornado, Oklahoma37.0880846$3.0 million
February 109:15 PM CSTEF1Tarrant, TX0.5100$750,000
February 1011:16 PM CSTEF1Wood, TX7.1300$400,000

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.