Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2015

EF0 tornado, Westboro, Missouri, June 11, 2015

This EF0 tornado ran 0.2 miles across Atchison County on June 11, 2015, touching down at 4:00 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 11, 2015
Touchdown
4:00 PM CDT (21:00 UTC)
Lifted
4:01 PM CDT (21:01 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
0.2 miles (0.3 km)
Path width
25 yards (23 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Atchison County
Touchdown point
40.510, -95.280
Lift-off point
40.511, -95.278
Record number
1506111500-01

What the Weather Service recorded

On the afternoon of June 11, 2015 several supercells formed in southeast Nebraska and trekked eastward into far northwestern Missouri. The lone tornado of the day formed in Atchison County Missouri, but was only brief. Otherwise, these storms mainly caused widespread areas of strong winds and some flash flooding.

An off-duty National Weather Service employee saw a brief and weak tornado form in a field about 6 miles northeast of Tarkio. The tornado did no damage and lifted before reaching V Avenue.

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

The warnings

24 minutes of warning. NWS EAX issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:36 UTC, 24 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 18:53 UTC and running to 00:31 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
08:36 UTC14:30 UTCFlood AdvisoryEAX
09:35 UTC03:21 UTCFlash Flood WatchEAX
12:01 UTC16:00 UTCFlood AdvisoryEAX
18:53 UTC00:31 UTCTornado WatchEAX
20:01 UTC11:30 UTCFlood WarningEAX
20:36 UTC21:00 UTCTornado WarningEAX
20:42 UTC21:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAX
20:57 UTC21:30 UTCTornado WarningEAX
21:09 UTC21:27 UTCTornado WarningEAX
21:13 UTC01:00 UTCFlash Flood WarningEAX
02:07 UTC15:12 UTCFlood WarningOAX
03:51 UTC11:00 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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 20:01 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

9.0 hours before the tornado, 128 km from the path. June 11, 2015.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 2015-06-11Temperature 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 -61158, lifted condensation level 630 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 2015-06-11The 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 288 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 36 knots.193958Sfc1 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
-61158 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
630 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
288 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
416 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Omaha, NE (KOAX), 00:00Z

3.0 hours after it, 128 km from the path. June 12, 2015.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 2015-06-12Temperature 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 -68660, lifted condensation level 697 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, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 2015-06-12The 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 -14 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 36 knots.193958Sfc1 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
-68660 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
697 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-14 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
282 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1
0-3 km lapse rate
4.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Shenandoah (SDA), 29 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
19:05 UTC75.271.680° 8 kt1005.4
19:15 UTC75.271.6120° 9 kt1005.1
19:25 UTC7771.6100° 7 kt1005.1
19:35 UTC7771.6110° 10 kt1004.7
19:45 UTC7771.6120° 11 kt1004.4
19:55 UTC7771.6110° 11 kt1004.1
20:05 UTC75.273.490° 8 kt1004.4BR
20:15 UTC75.273.460° 8 kt1003.7
20:25 UTC75.273.4110° 6 kt1004.1-RA
20:35 UTC75.273.4110° 10 kt1004.1-RA
20:45 UTC75.273.480° 7 kt1004.1
20:55 UTC75.273.480° 5 kt1003.7
21:05 UTC7773.480° 10 kt1003.4
21:15 UTC75.273.470° 8 kt1003.4
21:25 UTC7773.460° 9 kt1003.7
21:35 UTC75.273.480° 9 kt1003.7
21:45 UTC75.273.470° 9 kt161003.7
21:55 UTC75.273.480° 8 kt1003.4
22:05 UTC7773.480° 7 kt1003
22:15 UTC7773.460° 5 kt1003.4
22:25 UTC7775.2350° 9 kt1003.4
22:35 UTC7773.4350° 8 kt1003.7
22:45 UTC7773.4360° 8 kt1003.7
22:55 UTC75.273.4340° 10 kt1003.7

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

The radar

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 128 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:00 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
20:45 UTCTORNADO1 N TarkioAtchison, MOFORMED AND DISSIPATED MULTIPLE TIMES. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
21:00 UTCTORNADO7 Ne TarkioAtchison, MOBRIEF TORNADO
21:45 UTCFLOOD1 E WestboroAtchison, MOROAD CLOSED DUE TO FLOODING ALONG THE TARKIO RIVER NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF HIGHWAYS C AND M EAST OF WESTBORO.
22:20 UTCTSTM WND DMGE MaryvilleNodaway, MOPOWERLINES DOWN ON LIBERTY ROAD NORTH OF MOZINGO LAKE
22:55 UTCFLASH FLOOD1 W SheridanWorth, MOWATER FLOWING OVER HWY 246 JUST WEST OF SHERIDAN.
23:14 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Ene OregonHolt, MONUMEROUS ACCIDENTS AND OVERTURNED TRACTOR TRAILER ALONG INTERSTATE 29. TIME AND LOCATION ESTIMATED.
23:19 UTCHAIL 0.75FillmoreAndrew, MOTIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
23:30 UTCFLASH FLOOD1 E RavenwoodNodaway, MOHWY O EAST OF RAVENWOOD.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2015 tornado in MissouriEvery tornado in Missouri since 1950Warnings in force in Missouri nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of June 11, 2015

2 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 115:25 PM CDTEF1Mercer, IL5.950
June 117:45 PM MDTEF0Baca, CO1.350

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.