Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2010

EF0 tornado, Annapolis, Missouri, April 30, 2010

This EF0 tornado ran 0.3 miles across Iron County on April 30, 2010, touching down at 9:05 PM CDT and reaching 50 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
April 30, 2010
Touchdown
9:05 PM CDT (02:05 UTC)
Lifted
9:06 PM CDT (02:06 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.3 miles (0.5 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Iron County
Touchdown point
37.320, -90.740
Lift-off point
37.323, -90.736
Record number
1004302005-01

What the Weather Service recorded

Storms developed ahead of a strong cold front during the afternoon and evening hours. Numerous reports of severe weather were received including large hail, damaging winds and tornadoes.

A tornado briefly touched down on a ranch about 4 miles southwest of Annapolis. Numerous large trees were twisted and blown down. One of the trees fell onto a shed causing moderate damage. No injuries were reported.

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

The warnings

22 minutes of warning. NWS LSX issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:43 UTC, 22 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 02:05 UTC and running to 03:47 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
19:40 UTC02:03 UTCTornado WatchLSX
01:43 UTC02:30 UTCTornado WarningLSX
02:05 UTC03:47 UTCTornado WatchLSX
02:10 UTC02:26 UTCTornado WarningLSX

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 0.15 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 00:58 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

2.1 hours before the tornado, 276 km from the path. May 1, 2010.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2010-05-01Temperature 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 -75652, lifted condensation level 1925 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 00:00Z on 2010-05-01The 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 -209 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 81 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-75652 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1925 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
81 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-209 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
122 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5
0-3 km lapse rate
3.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 12:00Z

9.9 hours after it, 276 km from the path. May 1, 2010.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2010-05-01Temperature 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 -83299, lifted condensation level 1493 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 2010-05-01The 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 -63 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 68 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 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
-83299 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1493 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
68 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-63 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-9 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Farmington (FAM), 56 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
00:15 UTC71.666.2170° 12 kt171001.7
00:35 UTC71.666.2170° 15 kt181001.4
00:55 UTC71.666.2160° 14 kt201001.4
01:15 UTC71.666.2180° 15 kt1002
01:35 UTC71.666.2180° 13 kt221002.4
01:55 UTC71.666.2180° 10 kt1002VCTS
02:15 UTC69.866.2180° 9 kt1002.7TS

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

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 153 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:06 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
02:05 UTCTORNADO4 Sw AnnapolisIron, MOPOSSIBLE TORNADO. NUMEROUS LARGE TREES TWISTED AND BLOWN DOWN. ONE TREE FELL ONTO THE CORNER OF A SHED CAUSING DAMAGE.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2010 tornado in MissouriEvery tornado in Missouri since 1950Warnings in force in Missouri nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 30, 2010

24 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 305:49 PM CDTEF1Ozark, AR to MO16.0440$40,000
April 305:50 PM CDTEF0Iron, MI0.4100$15,000
April 306:12 PM CDTEF1Ozark, MO3.7440$80,000
April 306:14 PM CDTEF0Ozark, MO0.8100
April 306:24 PM CDTEF1Ozark, MO11.11,320$875,000
April 306:50 PM CDTEF1Crawford, MO1.9100
April 306:56 PM CDTEF3Conway, AR20.3700115$4.1 million
April 307:00 PM CDTEF1Green Lake, WI2.0100$130,000
April 307:05 PM CDTEF1Howell, MO2.71,320$750,000
April 307:15 PM CDTEF0Marquette, WI8.250
April 307:15 PM CDTEF0Marquette, WI7.350
April 307:46 PM CDTEF1Grant, AR2.875$40,000
April 307:48 PM CDTEF1Van Buren, AR8.9150$165,000
April 307:55 PM CDTEF2Conway, AR11.8200$1.9 million
April 307:59 PM CDTEF2Grant, AR18.05508$4.3 million
April 308:08 PM CDTEF1Jefferson, MO18.3581
April 308:35 PM CDTEF2Pulaski, AR34.71,000$5.2 million
April 308:37 PM CDTEF2Howard, AR1.9150$200,000
April 308:50 PM CDTEF2Monroe, IL7.2350
April 308:57 PM CDTEF0Monroe, IL0.150
April 309:55 PM CDTEF1White, AR2.4150$200,000
April 3010:24 PM CDTEF0Howard, AR0.875$5,000
April 3010:40 PM CDTEF3Jackson, AR7.71,000$1.0 million
April 3010:52 PM CDTEF1Dallas, AR1.950$40,000

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.