Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2014

EF2 tornado, Sibley to Henrietta, Missouri, May 10, 2014

From Sibley to Henrietta, this EF2 tornado ran 12.6 miles across Ray and Jackson counties on May 10, 2014, touching down at 5:15 PM CDT and reaching 500 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 mph

    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 mphthis tornado

    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
EF2
Date
May 10, 2014
Touchdown
5:15 PM CDT (22:15 UTC)
Lifted
5:55 PM CDT (22:55 UTC)
On the ground
40 minutes
Path length
12.6 miles (20.3 km)
Path width
500 yards (457 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Counties
Ray and Jackson counties
Touchdown point
39.212, -94.193
Lift-off point
39.222, -93.978
Record number
1405101615-01

The damage survey

21 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS EAX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF2. The highest wind the damage implies is 122 mph.

  • Tornado began here and produced minor tree damage.
  • Wooden transmission poles damaged / broken. Low end EF1.
  • School roof gone, but the walls are in tact.
  • lose of trusses windows, doors.

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

During the day on Saturday, May 10 several supercell thunderstorms formed across western and northern Missouri. The first cells formed around 3 pm in far northern Missouri, and produced very large hail up to the size of softballs! These softball sized hail stones fell near the city of Trenton, Missouri in Grundy County. Later in the evening another cluster of storms formed directly over the Kansas City metro area, and after several minutes of maturing, a dominant supercell moved east of the metro and produced a strong tornado west of Orrick, Missouri. Unfortunately the tornado moved into the town of Orrick and damaged many structures; however, no injuries were reported with this tornado. The storm then went on to produce another tornado near the city of Marshall, Missouri in Saline County. Also remarkable with this supercell was that a storm chaser near the tornado reported winds in excess of 100 mph near Marshall. By the late evening hours most of the storm activity either dissipated or moved out of the area.

A tornado formed near the Jackson and Ray County line along the Missouri River. The tornado crossed into Ray County about 2 minutes after forming in wooded areas along the river.

This tornado is a continuation of the tornado that formed in Jackson County Missouri, just south of Sibley, Missouri and trekked eastward paralleling Highway 210 just north of the Missouri River. The tornado entered the city of Orrick, Missouri, causing widespread damage in the town with the worst damage rating the tornado an EF-2. The school in town was nearly destroyed, causing classes to come to an end for the remainder of the school year. The tornado continued east of town and dissipated just southwest of Henrietta, Missouri.

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

The warnings

0 minutes of warning. NWS EAX issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:15 UTC, 0 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:26 UTC.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 19:31 UTC and running to 02:29 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
19:31 UTC02:29 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchEAX
21:56 UTC22:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAX
22:15 UTC22:26 UTCTornado 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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:51 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 (KFOE), 12:00Z

10.3 hours before the tornado, 136 km from the path. May 10, 2014.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 2014-05-10Temperature 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 -91095, lifted condensation level 1969 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, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 2014-05-10The 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 184 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 45 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
-91095 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1969 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
184 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
179 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Topeka, KS (KFOE), 00:00Z

1.7 hours after it, 136 km from the path. May 11, 2014.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 2014-05-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 17 joules per kilogram, CIN -153, lifted condensation level 2314 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 2014-05-11The 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 217 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 38 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
17 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-153 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1215 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2314 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
217 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
239 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2
0-3 km lapse rate
6.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 48 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:15 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
21:20 UTCHAIL 0.883 E SmithvilleClay, MO
21:20 UTCHAIL 11 S GladstoneClay, MO
21:23 UTCHAIL 1.254 Wsw ClaycomoClay, MOREPORT VIA SOCIAL MEDIA. TIME ESTIMATED.
21:24 UTCHAIL 13 E SmithvilleClay, MO
21:27 UTCHAIL 1.75GladstoneClay, MO
21:29 UTCHAIL 1GladstoneClay, MO
21:29 UTCHAIL 1GladstoneClay, MO
21:30 UTCHAIL 11 Nw KearneyClay, MO
21:35 UTCHAIL 21 N GladstoneClay, MOREPORTED VIA SOCIAL MEDIA. DELAYED REPORT.
21:35 UTCHAIL 2.52 Nnw GladstoneClay, MO
21:36 UTCHAIL 1.25HoltClay, MORELAYED VIA SOCIAL MEDIA. DELAYED REPORT.
21:38 UTCHAIL 1.25LibertyClay, MO
21:40 UTCHAIL 1.5LibertyClay, MO
21:42 UTCHAIL 0.881 N LibertyClay, MO
21:42 UTCHAIL 1.752 W LibertyClay, MO
21:45 UTCHAIL 1SmithvilleClay, MORELAYED VIA SOCIAL MEDIA. DELAYED REPORT.
22:00 UTCHAIL 1.52 Nw Missouri CityClay, MODIME TO PING PONG BALL SIZED HAIL.
22:00 UTCHAIL 2LibertyClay, MORELAYED VIA SOCIAL MEDIA. DELAYED REPORT.
22:16 UTCTORNADO2 N SibleyRay, MOCONFIRMED ON LOCAL TELEVISION FOOTAGE
22:16 UTCTORNADO2 N SibleyRay, MOCONFIRMED ON LOCAL TELEVISION FOOTAGE
22:31 UTCTORNADOOrrickRay, MOTORNADO DAMAGE REPORTED. ACCESS TO ORRICK IS BLOCKED.
22:32 UTCTORNADO1 W OrrickRay, MOTORNADO STILL ONGOING VIA BROADCAST MEDIA HELICOPTER VIDEO FOOTAGE.
22:51 UTCHAIL 1.751 S RichmondRay, MO
23:06 UTCTORNADO2 N LexingtonRay, MOCONFIRMED BY STORM CHASER
23:20 UTCFUNNEL CLOUDConcordiaLafayette, MOTWO FUNNEL CLOUDS REPORTED ON I-70 IN CONCORDIA.
23:20 UTCHAIL 14 Se BraymerCarroll, MO
23:48 UTCHAIL 13 W WaverlyLafayette, MO

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 May 10, 2014

5 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 1011:47 AM MDTEF0Jefferson, ID0.015
May 103:07 PM CDTEF1Geneva, AL2.1100$85,000
May 106:00 PM CDTEF0Ray, MO0.625
May 107:26 PM CDTEF1Saline, MO7.31,350$10,000
May 108:16 PM CDTEF0Greenwood, KS0.175

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.