EF0 tornado, Cliquot to Rondo, Missouri, May 17, 2015

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.

Rating

EF0

Date

May 17, 2015

Touchdown

2:07 AM CDT (07:07 UTC)

Lifted

2:09 AM CDT (07:09 UTC)

On the ground

2 minutes

Path length

1.7 miles (2.7 km)

Path width

200 yards (183 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Polk County

Touchdown point

37.698, -93.506

Lift-off point

37.713, -93.481

Record number

1505170107-01

7 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS SGF, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 80 mph.

• Several trees were uprooted. Numerous large tree branches broken and thrown in multiple directions. A couple outbuildings were destroyed.
• Numerous large tree branches and tree top broken. Several trees were uprooted.
• Numerous large tree braches were broken. Several large trees were uprooted in different directions. Powerlines and poles were bent over. One house had minor roof damage.

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

A strong upper level system moved through the Midwest region and produced a squall line of thunderstorms across the Missouri Ozarks. This squall line of storms produced numerous reports of wind damage and a few weak tornadoes.

An EF-0 rated tornado occurred east of Dunnegan. Multiple trees were damaged in the area with damage consistent with winds up to 80 mph. The tornado had a path length of just under two miles with a width of 100 to 200 yards.

An EF-0 tornado touched down about east of the community of Cliquot near East 380th Road and South 109th Road. The tornado lifted about 2 miles South of Pittsburg near Highway 64 and East 318th Road. Numerous large tree branches were broken and tree tops snapped. Severe trees were uprooted. Two houses had minor roof and siding damage. Several fences were damaged. The path length was approximately 10 miles and a path width of 100 yards. Maximum winds were estimated up to 85 mph.

An EF-0 tornado briefly touched down southeast of Flemington. The tornado touched down near South 85th Road and 330th Road. The tornado lifted near South 95th Road and Highway V. A couple outbuildings were destroyed. Numerous trees had severe tree damage with large branches broken and tree tops snapped. Several trees were uprooted. The path was approximately 2 miles long and 100 yards wide. Maximum winds were estimated up to 85 mph.

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

21 minutes of warning. NWS SGF issued a tornado warning for this county at 06:46 UTC, 21 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 07:15 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 03:21 UTC and running to 08:01 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Marginal Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 05:52 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 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 (SGF), 53 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

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

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

11 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.