Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2010

EF0 tornado, Notch, Missouri, December 31, 2010

This EF0 tornado ran 1.8 miles across Stone County on December 31, 2010, touching down at 12:17 AM CST and reaching 75 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $750,000 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
December 31, 2010
Touchdown
12:17 AM CST (06:17 UTC)
Lifted
12:22 AM CST (06:22 UTC)
On the ground
5 minutes
Path length
1.8 miles (2.8 km)
Path width
75 yards (69 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$750,000
County
Stone County
Touchdown point
36.616, -93.350
Lift-off point
36.638, -93.334
Record number
1012310017-01

The damage survey

2 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS TSA, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 65 mph.

  • End of tornado track in Carroll County, AR; tornado continued into Missouri, dissipating near the intersection of Highways 86 and 13

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

What the Weather Service recorded

Between the evening of the 30th and the morning of the 31st, two separate lines of thunderstorms produced significant severe weather across southwest Missouri including damaging wind, large hail, and deadly tornadoes. The first round of storms lifted out of Arkansas late on the evening of the 30th and the second round moved out of western Kansas shortly before daybreak on the 31st.

An EF-0 tornado touched down along the southern point of the Indian Point peninsula. The tornado impacted a neighborhood with frame homes prior to damaging the eastern shore ling of the peninsula. Four coves were affected by this tornado damaging approximately six boat docks and four boats . These boat docks had mainly open slips. There was damaged to one boat dock at Rock Lane Resort. The peak wind speeds were estimated at 70 miles per hour.

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. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
04:56 UTC05:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGF
06:22 UTC06:36 UTCTornado WarningSGF
07:05 UTC13:32 UTCTornado WatchSGF
13:20 UTC13:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGF
13:32 UTC15:42 UTCTornado WatchSGF
13:33 UTC14:00 UTCTornado WarningSGF
13:34 UTC14:15 UTCTornado WarningSGF
15:00 UTC21:33 UTCWind AdvisorySGF
18:00 UTC21:36 UTCRed Flag 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 05:44 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

6.3 hours before the tornado, 51 km from the path. December 31, 2010.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2010-12-31Temperature 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 -84631, lifted condensation level 783 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2010-12-31The 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 315 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 60 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
-84631 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
783 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
60 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
315 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
285 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
5.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 12:00Z

5.7 hours after it, 51 km from the path. December 31, 2010.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2010-12-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 764 joules per kilogram, CIN -39, lifted condensation level 569 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, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2010-12-31The 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 535 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 69 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
764 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-39 J/kg
Surface CAPE
341 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
569 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
69 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
535 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
546 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.9
Supercell composite
10.7
0-3 km lapse rate
5.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Branson (BBG), 16 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
04:35 UTC5955.4140° 10 kt151003.4VCTS
04:55 UTC5955.4140° 13 kt181003-RA
05:15 UTC5955.4130° 12 kt171002.4
05:35 UTC5957.2140° 15 kt211002.4VCTS
05:55 UTC5957.2150° 12 kt201002.4
06:15 UTC5957.2150° 17 kt201002VCTS
06:35 UTC5957.2160° 12 kt191002.4
06:55 UTC60.857.2170° 13 kt171002.4
07:15 UTC62.657.2160° 12 kt171002
07:35 UTC62.657.2160° 11 kt191002.4
07:55 UTC62.655.4170° 8 kt191002.7
08:15 UTC62.655.4150° 10 kt151002.4

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

The radar

The Springfield radar (KSGF), 68 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 06:18 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
05:19 UTCTORNADO3 Sse LampeStone, MOSTONE COUNTY OFFICE OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SURVEYED TORNADO DAMAGE APPROXIMATELY 2.5 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF LAMPE. MINOR DAMAGE CONSISTED OF ONE FRAME HOME...ONE MOBILE HOME...2 LARGE FARM GAS TANKS...AND AN OUTBUILDI
05:26 UTCTORNADO8 S Branson WestStone, MONWS STORM SURVEY REVEALED THAT A STRONG EF-1 TORNADO IMPACTED THE EASTERN SHORE LINE OF THE HIGHWAY DD PENINSULA. NUMEROUS BOAT DOCKS AND BOATS WERE DESTROYED. APPROXIMATELY 60 HOMES EXPERIENCED MINOR TO MODERATE ROOF DA
06:17 UTCTORNADO2 Ssw Indian PointStone, MOAN EF-0 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ALONG THE INDIAN POINT PENINSULA EARLY FRIDAY MORNING. THE TORNADO DAMAGED SEVERAL BOATS...BOAT DOCKS...AND FRAME HOMES. THE PATH LENGTH OF THE TORNADO WAS 1.75 MILES...WITH A MAXIMUM WIDTH O
06:18 UTCTORNADO3 Ne SpartaChristian, MOAN EF-1 TORNADO WITH A MAXIMUM WIDTH OF 250 YARDS AND WIND SPEEDS ESTIMATED NEAR 105 MPH CAUSED MAJOR DAMAGE TO SEVERAL STRUCTURES. ONE TRAILER HOME WAS SPUN AND DISPLACED 150 YARDS. A LARGE BARN HAD ITS ROOF REMOVED WIT
06:18 UTCTORNADO7 S Branson WestStone, MOA NWS STORM SURVEY REVEALED THAT A TORNADO IMPACTED THE TABLE ROCK LAKE AREA. SEVERAL BOAT DOCKS AND BOATS WERE EITHER HEAVILY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED. THIS SURVEY HAS NOT BEEN COMPLETED AND WILL BE FINISHED SATURDAY. AN EF
06:19 UTCTSTM WND DMGIndian PointStone, MOEM REPORTS DAMANGE TO A PROPANE TANK AND SEVERAL HOMES IN THE INDIAN POINT AREA. THIS DAMANGE WAS FROM THE FIRST STORM THAT MOVED THROUGH THE AREA.
06:21 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Ne SpartaChristian, MOMOBILE HOME ROLLED OVER INTO JOHNS FORD ROAD...ROOF OFF OF A FRAME HOUSE. NUMEROUS TREES DOWN BLOCKING ROADS IN THE VICINITY. POSSIBLE TORNADO.
06:23 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Sse RogersvilleChristian, MOTREES DOWN AND A FEW OUTBUILDINGS DAMAGED NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF BRADEN AND LAROSE. POSSIBLE TORNADO.
06:27 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Ese RogersvilleChristian, MOSEVERAL TREES DOWN...DAMAGE TO A FEW BARNS AND OUTBUILDINGS...PORCH DAMAGED ON RESIDENCE NEAR THE INTERSTECT OF HIGHWAYS KK AND U. POSSIBLE TORNADO.
06:29 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Ese RogersvilleWebster, MOSEVERAL TREES DOWN AND OUTBUILDINGS DAMAGED NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF OLGA ROAD AND HIGHWAY U. POSSIBLE TORNADO.
06:35 UTCTSTM WND DMGBranson WestStone, MOREPORT FROM TRAINED SPOTTER VIA MEDIA OF POWER FLASHES AROUND BRANSON WEST.

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 December 31, 2010

28 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
December 3112:18 AM CSTEF1Christian, MO5.32502$200,000
December 3112:31 AM CSTEF0Webster, MO3.1150$100,000
December 316:05 AM CSTEF3Adair, OK to AR21.1500410$1.9 million
December 317:48 AM CSTEF0Carroll, AR to MO4.350$15,000
December 318:37 AM CSTEF0Polk, MO1.050$5,000
December 319:43 AM CSTEF3Pulaski, MO7.55004$90 million
December 3110:06 AM CSTEF3Phelps, MO11.050026$1.0 million
December 3110:12 AM CSTEF1Phelps, MO6.84402$500,000
December 3110:40 AM CSTEF1Crawford, MO6.4100
December 3111:16 AM CSTEF1Franklin, MO0.8100$40,000
December 3111:17 AM CSTEF0Franklin, MO0.450
December 3111:19 AM CSTEF2Franklin, MO12.2370
December 3111:25 AM CSTEF0Saint Charles, MO2.050
December 3111:27 AM CSTEF1Jefferson, MO8.650
December 3111:48 AM CSTEF3Saint Louis, MO6.744016$1.0 million
December 3111:48 AM CSTEF1Saint Louis, MO1.7175
December 3111:56 AM CSTEF0Calhoun, IL3.650
December 3112:08 PM CSTEF1City of Saint Louis, MO2.7100
December 3112:30 PM CSTEF0Saint Clair, IL0.150
December 3112:37 PM CSTEF3Menard, IL3.62001$12 million
December 311:05 PM CSTEF0Bond, IL1.7100
December 311:24 PM CSTEF2Carter, MO2.6200$200,000
December 312:25 PM CSTEF2Butler, MO0.2100$250,000
December 312:35 PM CSTEF0LaSalle Parish, LA0.450$20,000
December 314:11 PM CSTEF1Warren, MS3.6100$110,000
December 314:44 PM CSTEF2Hinds, MS26.2800$2.7 million
December 315:42 PM CSTEF0Rankin, MS1.450$2,000
December 318:09 PM CSTEF1Lincoln, MS2.150$250,000

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.