Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2014

EF0 tornado, Orrsburg to Parnell, Missouri, June 30, 2014

From Orrsburg to Parnell, this EF0 tornado ran 3.5 miles across Nodaway County on June 30, 2014, touching down at 4:40 PM CDT and reaching 200 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 30, 2014
Touchdown
4:40 PM CDT (21:40 UTC)
Lifted
4:45 PM CDT (21:45 UTC)
On the ground
5 minutes
Path length
3.5 miles (5.7 km)
Path width
200 yards (183 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Nodaway County
Touchdown point
40.437, -94.721
Lift-off point
40.464, -94.665
Record number
1406301540-01

What the Weather Service recorded

An extremely unstable environment was in place during this time period. On the evening of the 29th, several super cell thunderstorms producing tornadoes tracked across northwestern and northern Missouri producing multiple weak tornadoes. Storms erupted again the evening of the 30th and again produced several weak tornadoes across northern Missouri. The storms eventually evolved into a southward advancing line the evening of June 30th, producing another weak tornado in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

This tornado occurred in open country. No damage was reported.

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.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
22:29 UTC00:38 UTCTornado WatchEAX
00:00 UTC00:53 UTCFlash Flood WatchEAX

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 19:52 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.

Omaha, NE (KOAX), 12:00Z

9.7 hours before the tornado, 171 km from the path. June 30, 2014.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 2014-06-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 4563 joules per kilogram, CIN -72, lifted condensation level 903 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 2014-06-30The 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 40 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 50 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
4563 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-72 J/kg
Surface CAPE
4135 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
903 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
40 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
162 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.8
Supercell composite
12.1
0-3 km lapse rate
4.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Omaha, NE (KOAX), 00:00Z

2.3 hours after it, 171 km from the path. July 1, 2014.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 2014-07-01Temperature 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 -84332, lifted condensation level 1472 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, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 2014-07-01The 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 -164 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 53 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-84332 J/kg
Surface CAPE
825 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1472 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-164 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
153 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.4
0-3 km lapse rate
5.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Clarinda (ICL), 41 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
19:45 UTC82.477200° 5 kt1004.1
19:55 UTC82.477190° 6 kt1004.1
20:05 UTC84.277180° 7 kt1004.4
20:15 UTC84.277190° 8 kt1004.4
20:25 UTC84.277210° 8 kt1004.4
20:35 UTC84.277200° 9 kt1004.4
20:45 UTC84.277190° 13 kt1003.7
20:55 UTC8677190° 14 kt1003.4
21:05 UTC8677180° 12 kt1003.7
21:15 UTC8677200° 12 kt1003.7
21:25 UTC8677200° 12 kt1003.7
21:35 UTC87.877210° 13 kt181003.7
21:45 UTC87.878.8210° 11 kt161003.7
21:55 UTC87.878.8210° 13 kt1003.7
22:05 UTC87.878.8230° 11 kt1003.7
22:15 UTC87.878.8230° 10 kt1003.7
22:25 UTC82.473.4320° 13 kt201004.4
22:35 UTC80.671.6320° 16 kt1004.7
22:45 UTC7769.8340° 16 kt251005.1
22:55 UTC7768340° 18 kt241005.4
23:05 UTC7768340° 16 kt251005.4
23:15 UTC7766.2340° 17 kt241005.4
23:30 UTC75.266.2340° 16 kt1005.8
23:35 UTC75.266.2340° 15 kt201006.1

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

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 164 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:41 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
22:02 UTCFUNNEL CLOUD1 Ne ParnellNodaway, MOSEVERAL REPORTS OF FUNNEL CLOUDS. POWER LINES REPORTED DOWN AS WELL.
22:27 UTCTORNADO6 Ese DenverGentry, MOSMALL DEBRIS WHIRL OBSERVED BY MEDIA/CHASER.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2014 tornado in MissouriEvery tornado in Missouri since 1950Warnings in force in Missouri nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 30, 2014

45 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 3012:42 PM CDTEF1Adair, IA7.1200$200,000
June 301:02 PM CDTEF1Story, IA12.0460$220,000
June 301:13 PM CDTEF1Madison, IA1.375$10,000
June 301:15 PM CDTEF0Marshall, IA6.5150$52,000
June 301:15 PM CDTEF1Madison, IA6.4400$100,000
June 301:27 PM CDTEF1Warren, IA2.0190$1,000
June 302:02 PM CDTEF2Tama, IA3.7150$150,000
June 302:27 PM CDTEF1Benton, IA0.475
June 305:20 PM MDTEF0Baca, CO0.350
June 306:43 PM CDTEF1Worth, MO2.1300
June 307:53 PM CDTEF0Harrison, MO3.0200
June 309:16 PM CDTEF1LaSalle, IL1.550$250,000
June 309:34 PM CDTEF1Clay, MO0.8200
June 309:38 PM CDTEF1Kendall, IL1.150$50,000
June 309:44 PM CDTEF0Grundy, IL2.250
June 309:55 PM CDTEF1Will, IL3.175$500,000
June 3010:22 PM CDTEF1Kankakee, IL10.3150$20,000
June 3010:23 PM CDTEF0Kankakee, IL3.145$133,000
June 3010:24 PM CDTEF1Kankakee, IL2.7110$158,000
June 3010:25 PM CDTEF1Kankakee, IL5.5450$166,000
June 3010:26 PM CDTEF1Kankakee, IL3.2110$166,000
June 3010:29 PM CDTEF1Kankakee, IL to IN15.8175
June 3010:30 PM CDTEF0Kankakee, IL4.4295$8,000
June 3010:32 PM CDTEF2Kankakee, IL3.9240$500,000
June 3010:33 PM CDTEF0Lake, IL to IN0.7120
June 3010:33 PM CDTEF1Lake, IL to IN8.7415$256,000
June 3010:37 PM CDTEF1Lake, IL to IN1.6175
June 3010:38 PM CDTEF1Lake, IN3.8260$86,000
June 3010:39 PM CDTEF1Lake, IN3.2370
June 3010:42 PM CDTEF1Lake, IN2.2315$28,000
June 3010:42 PM CDTEF1Newton, IN13.2395$180,000
June 3010:44 PM CDTEF2Lake, IN3.2295$250,000
June 3010:46 PM CDTEF1Lake, IN2.1185$25,000
June 3010:56 PM CDTEF1Jasper, IN1.9100$10,000
June 3011:11 PM CDTEF1LaPorte, IN0.3200
June 3011:24 PM CDTEF1LaPorte, IN4.7200
June 3011:25 PM CDTEF1Starke, IN4.9400
June 3011:29 PM CDTEF1Starke, IN4.8400
June 3012:35 AM EDTEF1Marshall, IN6.8150
June 3012:41 AM EDTEF1Marshall, IN0.250
June 301:06 AM EDTEF1Kosciusko, IN0.6150
June 301:06 AM EDTEF0Kosciusko, IN1.850
June 301:08 AM EDTEF1Wabash, IN7.0150
June 301:22 AM EDTEF1Whitley, IN0.550
June 301:38 AM EDTEF1LaGrange, IN0.950

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.