Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2009

EF0 tornado, DeKalb County, Missouri, June 7, 2009

This EF0 tornado ran 0.1 miles across DeKalb County on June 7, 2009, touching down at 8:27 PM CDT and reaching 25 yards wide. It killed nobody.

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
June 7, 2009
Touchdown
8:27 PM CDT (01:27 UTC)
Lifted
8:28 PM CDT (01:28 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.1 miles (0.2 km)
Path width
25 yards (23 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
DeKalb County
Touchdown point
39.910, -94.260
Lift-off point
39.910, -94.260
Record number
0906071927-01

The warnings

15 minutes of warning. NWS EAX issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:12 UTC, 15 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:45 UTC and running to 03:53 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
20:45 UTC03:53 UTCTornado WatchEAX
00:12 UTC00:45 UTCTornado WarningEAX
00:45 UTC01:00 UTCTornado WarningEAX
00:58 UTC01:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAX
01:12 UTC01:45 UTCTornado WarningEAX
01:28 UTC02:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAX
01:49 UTC02:09 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAX
02:23 UTC03:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAX
02:56 UTC09:00 UTCFlood AdvisoryEAX
03:13 UTC03:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAX
03:28 UTC08:54 UTCFlood AdvisoryEAX
03:38 UTC03:52 UTCTornado WarningEAX
03:46 UTC04:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAX
03:53 UTC08:39 UTCTornado WatchEAX
14:44 UTC01:30 UTCFlood WarningEAX

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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 01:02 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.

Topeka, KS (KTOP), 00:00Z

1.5 hours before the tornado, 156 km from the path. June 8, 2009.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 2009-06-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 3425 joules per kilogram, CIN -72, lifted condensation level 1586 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 2009-06-08The 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 128 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 41 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
3425 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-72 J/kg
Surface CAPE
3701 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1586 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
128 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
156 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
3.2
0-3 km lapse rate
6.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Topeka, KS (KTOP), 12:00Z

10.5 hours after it, 156 km from the path. June 8, 2009.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 2009-06-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 97 joules per kilogram, CIN -346, lifted condensation level 641 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 2009-06-08The 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 84 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 53 knots.1939587897Sfc1 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
97 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-346 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
641 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
84 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
48 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.2
0-3 km lapse rate
4.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

St. Joseph (STJ), 58 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
23:53 UTC8267110° 9 kt1002.7
00:53 UTC806720° 11 kt1004.4
01:53 UTC8068100° 8 kt1004.1
02:53 UTC7766100° 5 kt1003.7VCTS -RA

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

The radar

The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 122 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:24 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
00:05 UTCHAIL 17 N SavannahAndrew, MOINTERSECTION HWY 71 AND ROUTE A.
00:07 UTCHAIL 15 S BraymerRay, MO
00:18 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD3 N AmazoniaAndrew, MOBRIEF FUNNEL CLOUD OBSERVED.
00:39 UTCHAIL 1Lock SpringsDaviess, MO
00:43 UTCHAIL 1King CityGentry, MOBEGAN 5 MINUTES AGO
00:46 UTCHAIL 23 S King CityDekalb, MO
00:51 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDUnion StarDekalb, MOLOWERING ROTATING WALL CLOUD.
00:59 UTCHAIL 1.53 E JamesportGrundy, MO
01:06 UTCHAIL 0.75King CityGentry, MO
01:06 UTCHAIL 210 Nw TrentonGrundy, MO
01:06 UTCHAIL 25 Nw TrentonGrundy, MO
01:13 UTCTORNADOAmityDekalb, MOTREE BRANCHES DOWN
01:27 UTCTORNADO1 W WeatherbyDekalb, MOTORNADO RAIN WRAPPED
01:29 UTCHAIL 16 E FairportDekalb, MO
01:35 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDWinstonDaviess, MOLOWERING ROTATING WALL CLOUD NORTH OF WINSTON TRUCK STOP NEAR INTERSECTION OF I-35 AND HWY 6.
01:47 UTCHAIL 26 Nw WinstonDekalb, MO
01:54 UTCHAIL 2.756 W GallatinDaviess, MO
01:55 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD1 N AltamontDaviess, MO
01:55 UTCHAIL 46 W GallatinDaviess, MOWINDOWS BREAKING
02:03 UTCHAIL 46 W GallatinDaviess, MOGRAPEFRUIT SIZED HAIL HAS BEEN GOING ON AT THIS LOCATION FOR 10 MINUTES. REPORT IS FROM THE WEST SHORE OF LAKE VIKING.
02:07 UTCHAIL 1GallatinDaviess, MO
02:07 UTCHAIL 2GallatinDaviess, MO
02:10 UTCHAIL 1.75GallatinDaviess, MO
02:13 UTCHAIL 11 Wsw GallatinDaviess, MO
02:31 UTCHAIL 1.52 N Lock SpringsDaviess, MO
02:48 UTCHAIL 2.5Spring HillLivingston, MO
02:53 UTCHAIL 14 N PlattsburgClinton, MO
03:24 UTCHAIL 0.88OsbornDekalb, MO
03:44 UTCTORNADO3 Ne CameronCaldwell, MOSPOTTERS REPORTING POSSIBLE LARGE TORNADO
03:46 UTCTSTM WND DMGKidderCaldwell, MOTWO TREES DOWN IN CITY PARK. ONE TREE BROKEN IN HALF.
03:48 UTCHAIL 1WinstonDaviess, MO
03:54 UTCHAIL 0.755 W KingstonCaldwell, MO
03:59 UTCTSTM WND GST 60GallatinDaviess, MO
04:04 UTCTSTM WND DMGGallatinDaviess, MOPOWERLINES DOWN AND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DAMAGED IN WEST AND SOUTWHEST GALLATIN
04:05 UTCTORNADO5 S GallatinDaviess, MOREPORTED AT THE INTERSECTION OF 13 AND M HWYS
04:17 UTCTSTM WND DMGKidderCaldwell, MOTWO TREES DOWN IN CITY PARK. ONE TREE BROKEN IN HALF.
04:17 UTCTSTM WND GST 70GallatinDaviess, MOPENNY SIZED HAIL ALSO REPORTED.
04:26 UTCTSTM WND GST 801 W JamesportDaviess, MOCAR BLOWN OFF HIGHWAY 6 AT THIS LOCATION

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 June 7, 2009

10 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 72:03 PM CDTEF0Banner, WY to NE5.525
June 71:05 PM MDTEF0Adams, CO0.650$25,000
June 71:50 PM MDTEF1Arapahoe, CO5.51002$500,000
June 72:23 PM MDTEF0Arapahoe, CO0.150$10,000
June 72:27 PM MDTEF1Elbert, CO0.250$75,000
June 72:43 PM MDTEF0Elbert, CO0.1150
June 75:17 PM CDTEF0Cass, IA0.225
June 76:33 PM CDTEF0Dallas, IA1.9125$10,000
June 78:13 PM CDTEF0DeKalb, MO0.125
June 710:44 PM CDTEF0Caldwell, MO0.125

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.