Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2017

EF0 tornado, Napoleon to Odessa, Missouri, June 17, 2017

From Napoleon to Odessa, this EF0 tornado ran 4.8 miles across Lafayette County on June 17, 2017, touching down at 9:47 PM CDT and reaching 50 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 17, 2017
Touchdown
9:47 PM CDT (02:47 UTC)
Lifted
9:53 PM CDT (02:53 UTC)
On the ground
6 minutes
Path length
4.8 miles (7.6 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Lafayette County
Touchdown point
39.068, -94.094
Lift-off point
39.056, -94.007
Record number
1706172047-01

The damage survey

5 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS EAX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 93 mph.

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

On the afternoons of June 15 through June 17 mulitple rounds of severe storms raked through western and central Missouri causing widespread wind damage and large hail. A tornado occurred in Lafayette County after dark, causing minor damage to rural areas north of Bates City.

A tornado formed in western Lafayette County late in the evening of June 17, 2017 just north of Bates City and west of Mayview. This tornado remained mostly over rural portions of Lafayette County and caused mostly minor damage to some residences as well as snapping trunks of a few large trees.

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.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 23:12 UTC and running to 04:52 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
17:00 UTC20:55 UTCHeat AdvisoryEAX
23:12 UTC04:52 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchEAX
02:38 UTC03:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAX
02:49 UTC03:15 UTCTornado WarningEAX
03:07 UTC03:31 UTCSevere Thunderstorm 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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 01:00 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), 00:00Z

2.8 hours before the tornado, 137 km from the path. June 18, 2017.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 2017-06-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 4476 joules per kilogram, CIN -22, lifted condensation level 1204 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 2017-06-18The 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 4 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 52 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
4476 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-22 J/kg
Surface CAPE
6766 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1204 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
103 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.3
Supercell composite
-1.9
0-3 km lapse rate
6.4 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Topeka, KS (KFOE), 12:00Z

9.2 hours after it, 137 km from the path. June 18, 2017.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 2017-06-18Temperature 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 -89282, lifted condensation level 1591 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 2017-06-18The 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 -59 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 62 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
-89282 J/kg
Surface CAPE
59 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1591 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
62 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-59 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-40 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

The radar

The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 34 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 02:45 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
01:20 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Nnw RaytownJackson, MO12 INCH TREE FELL DOWN ON THREE CARS. NO INJURIES REPORTED.
02:05 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Ese FerrelviewClay, MOTREE SNAPPED IN HALF
02:05 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Ne Lake WaukomisClay, MOTREE SNAPPED IN HALF.
02:07 UTCTSTM WND GST 75RiversidePlatte, MOWENT ON FOR 3-4 MINUTES.
02:10 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Se GladstoneClay, MO10 INCH DIAMETER TREE FELL ON A CAR. NO ONE WAS INJURED.
02:12 UTCTSTM WND GST 501 N NorthmoorClay, MONEAR ENGLEWOOD RD. AND U.S. HWY 169.
02:13 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Ese GladstoneClay, MODELAYED REPORT: TREE DAMAGE WITH 5 LIMBS SNAPPED OFF, SUBMITTED VIA SOCIAL MEDIA. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR.
02:15 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Nne GladstoneClay, MONUMEROUS TREES DOWN BETWEEN WALMART AND 66TH TERRACE, APPROXIMATELY 6-8 INCHES IN DIAMETER.
02:15 UTCTSTM WND DMGGladstoneClay, MOTREES DOWN AT 61ST ST. AND HOWARD AVE.
02:15 UTCTSTM WND DMGGladstoneClay, MOEM REPORTS GLADSTONE HAS SEVERAL STREETS BLOCKED DUE TO DAMAGE, GOOD PORTION OF THE CITY WITHOUT POWER, PUBLIC WORKS DEPLOYING CREWS FOR DEBRIS REMOVAL.
02:15 UTCTSTM WND DMGGladstoneClay, MOSPORADIC POWER OUTAGES IN GLADSTONE WITH LIMBS DOWN.
02:17 UTCTSTM WND GST 582 Ne GladstoneClay, MO50 TO 60 MPH EST. WINDS AT 72ND ST. AND ANTIOCH RD.
02:18 UTCTSTM WND GST 604 N OakviewClay, MOAT 93RD ST. AND NORTH OAK TRFWY.
02:19 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Sw Kansas CityJackson, MOBROADCAST MEDIA REPORTS DAMAGE TO THE BOULEVARDIA EVENT IN THE WEST BOTTOMS.
02:19 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Sw Kansas CityJackson, MOBROADCAST MEDIA REPORTS DAMAGE TO THE BOULEVARDIA EVENT IN THE WEST BOTTOMS. THE EVENT HAD TO CLOSE EARLY DUE TO DAMAGE SUSTAINED TO TENTS, FENCES, ETC.
02:25 UTCTSTM WND GST 603 Ssw RaytownJackson, MO
02:25 UTCTSTM WND GST 604 Nne OakviewClay, MO
02:25 UTCTSTM WND GST 70Oakwood ParkClay, MO
02:25 UTCTSTM WND GST 753 Nnw RaytownJackson, MOPOWER FLASHES OBSERVED. BP GAS STATION SIGN ACROSS FROM KAUFFMAN STADIUM DOWN.
02:25 UTCTSTM WND GST 801 N RandolphClay, MOSPOTTER SAW TRANSFORMERS BLOW. REPORTED AT WORLDS OF FUN.
02:29 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Sse IndependenceJackson, MO4 TO 6 INCH TREES BLOCKING THE ROAD AT 44TH ST. AND PHELPS RD.
02:29 UTCTSTM WND GST 651 E GladstoneClay, MOMULTIPLE TREES DOWN. 61ST ST. AND ANTIOCH RD.
02:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 S IndependenceJackson, MO3-4 INCH DIAMETER LIMBS DOWN FROM HEALTHY TREES.
02:30 UTCTSTM WND DMGOakwoodClay, MO4 IN DIAMETER TREES SNAPPED.
02:30 UTCTSTM WND DMGOakwood ParkClay, MOBLOWN TRANSFORMER.
02:34 UTCTSTM WND GST 584 Ene RaytownJackson, MO50-60MPH WINDS AT U.S. HWY 40 AND PHELPS RD.
02:40 UTCTSTM WND GST 602 Ne Blue SpringsJackson, MO
02:43 UTCTSTM WND GST 702 Ese Blue SpringsJackson, MOVEHICLE SHAKING. TRANSFORMERS BLOWING SOUTH OF SPOTTER'S LOCATION.
02:44 UTCTSTM WND GST 584 Sse IndependenceJackson, MOREPORTED AT LEE'S SUMMIT RD. AND U.S. HWY 40.
02:45 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 E Lee'S SummitJackson, MO8 INCH DIAMETER HEALTHY TREE BRANCH SNAPPED.
02:52 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Nne Lake TapawingoJackson, MO6 IN DIAMETER TREE LIMBS SNAPPED.
02:53 UTCTORNADO4 Nw OdessaLafayette, MOA NWS STORM SURVEY CREW CONFIRMED EF-0 TORNADO DAMAGE. DAMAGE WAS MAINLY TO LARGE TREES BUT ONE RESIDENCE LOST NUMEROUS SHINGLES FROM ITS ROOF.
02:54 UTCTSTM WND DMGOdessaLafayette, MOTREES AND POWERLINES DOWN IN ODESSA. VIA TWITTER.
02:55 UTCTSTM WND GST 70Oak GroveJackson, MO
03:10 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Sse GladstoneClay, MO10 INCH DIAMETER HEALTHY MAPLE TREE SNAPPED NEAR THE BASE.
03:10 UTCTSTM WND GST 703 Wsw AullvilleLafayette, MOAT I-70 AND ROUTE 13.
03:20 UTCTSTM WND GST 70EmmaLafayette, MOSAW 3 POWER FLASHES WITH THIS GUST.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2017 tornado in MissouriEvery tornado in Missouri since 1950Warnings in force in Missouri nowThe forecast where you are

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.