Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2017

EF0 tornado, Buffalo Arpt, Missouri, March 1, 2017

This EF0 tornado ran 1.0 miles across Dallas County on March 1, 2017, touching down at 12:30 AM CST and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $25,000 of property damage.

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
March 1, 2017
Touchdown
12:30 AM CST (06:30 UTC)
Lifted
12:31 AM CST (06:31 UTC)
On the ground
1 minutes
Path length
1.0 miles (1.6 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$25,000
County
Dallas County
Touchdown point
37.684, -93.107
Lift-off point
37.684, -93.088
Record number
1703010030-01

The damage survey

4 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.

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

Strong to severe thunderstorms impacted much of the region from the afternoon of February 28 through the early morning hours of March 1, 2017. These storms produced numerous reports of large hail and damaging wind as well as three small tornadoes across the Missouri Ozarks.

A brief EF-0 tornado touched down north of Buffalo. Several trees were blown down as well as numerous large tree branches. There was damage to several outbuildings and barns. One barn was completely destroyed. A truck was severely damaged from debris. One home had severe roof damage.

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.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 03:05 UTC and running to 07:35 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
17:41 UTC00:00 UTCWind AdvisorySGF
20:20 UTC03:00 UTCTornado WatchSGF
03:05 UTC07:35 UTCTornado WatchSGF
06:12 UTC07:05 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGF
06:48 UTC07:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGF
07:15 UTC08:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGF

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 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.

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 00:00Z

6.5 hours before the tornado, 107 km from the path. March 1, 2017.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2017-03-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1117 joules per kilogram, CIN -52, lifted condensation level 931 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, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2017-03-01The 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 341 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 65 knots.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
1117 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-52 J/kg
Surface CAPE
813 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
931 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
65 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
341 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
315 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.3
Supercell composite
8.2
0-3 km lapse rate
6.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 12:00Z

5.5 hours after it, 107 km from the path. March 1, 2017.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2017-03-01Temperature 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 -100240, lifted condensation level 613 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, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2017-03-01The 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 -356 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 71 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 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
-100240 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
613 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
71 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-356 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-274 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
3.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Springfield radar (KSGF), 57 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 06:31 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
06:06 UTCHAIL 1.5QuincyHickory, MO.
06:22 UTCTSTM WND GST 603 Ene FlemingtonHickory, MOREPORT OF 55-60 MPH WINDS AND HAIL TO THE SIZE OF NICKELS.
06:22 UTCTSTM WND GST 603 Ssw ElktonHickory, MOREPORT OF 55-60 MPH WINDS AND HAIL TO THE SIZE OF NICKELS.
06:25 UTCHAIL 1NemoHickory, MOWINDS 5O TO 60 MPH ESTIMATED
06:25 UTCHAIL 1NemoHickory, MOWINDS 5O TO 60 MPH ESTIMATED.
06:30 UTCTORNADO3 N BuffaloDallas, MOA NWS STORM SURVEY INDICATED THAT A BRIEF AND WEAK EF-0 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN JUST NORTH OF BOLIVAR ALONG ROCKET ROAD. THE TORNADO STARTED JUST WEST OF HIGHWAY 65 ALONG HWY C AND ENDED NEAR ROCKET ROAD AND HIGHWAY 73. THE
06:30 UTCTORNADO3 N BuffaloDallas, MOA NWS STORM SURVEY INDICATED THAT A BRIEF AND WEAK EF-0 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN JUST NORTH OF BUFFALO ALONG ROCKET ROAD. THE TORNADO STARTED JUST WEST OF HIGHWAY 65 ALONG HWY C AND ENDED NEAR ROCKET ROAD AND HIGHWAY 73. THE
06:35 UTCTSTM WND GST 803 N BuffaloDallas, MOBARN DESTROYED. HORSE TRAILER PICKED UP AND SLAMMED INTO THE BARN. .
06:38 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Ene AldrichPolk, MOTREE LIMBS DOWN ON WW HIGHWAY.
06:56 UTCTORNADO4 Wsw LebanonLaclede, MOA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STORM SURVEY REVEALED THAT AN EF-1 TORNADO BRIEFLY TOUCHED DOWN ABOUT FOUR MILES WEST OF LEBANON MISSOURI ALONG FOXTAIL ROAD. NUMEROUS TREES WERE UPROOTED OR SNAPPED. MINOR ROOF DAMAGE ALSO OCC
07:00 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Ssw ConwayLaclede, MOREPORTED WIND DAMAGE AT 01:00 DURING INITIAL STORM. TIN FROM ROOF OF BARN WAS BLOWN OFF CONTACTED POWER LINES BREAKING POLE AND DEBRIS IMPACTED THE MOBILE HOME. .
07:00 UTCTSTM WND DMGMarchDallas, MOHAY BARN DESTROYED. .
07:00 UTCHAIL 0.88Ash GroveGreene, MO
07:07 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Ssw Wet GlaizeCamden, MOGARAGE BLOWN APART DUE TO HIGH WINDS ON PRITCHETT ROAD.
07:17 UTCHAIL 12 Nw Fair GroveGreene, MO.
07:18 UTCTSTM WND DMGFair GroveGreene, MOMEDIUM SIZE TREES BLOWN DOWN BLOCKING FARM ROAD 209 NEAR FAIR GROVE
07:18 UTCTSTM WND DMGFair GroveGreene, MOMEDIUM SIZE TREES BLOWN DOWN BLOCKING FARM ROAD 209 NEAR FAIR GROVE.
07:35 UTCHAIL 1NianguaWebster, MO.

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

The other tornadoes of March 1, 2017

38 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 112:35 AM CSTEF1Butler, KY0.890$50,000
March 11:29 AM CSTEF1Johnson, AR0.1200$20,000
March 12:31 AM ESTEF0Highland, OH6.9250$30,000
March 12:40 AM ESTEF0Highland, OH4.5100$10,000
March 12:16 AM CSTEF1Conway, AR1.0250$30,000
March 12:18 AM CSTEF0Conway, AR1.150$40,000
March 12:33 AM CSTEF1Cleburne, AR3.9250$20,000
March 13:38 AM ESTEF1Clermont, OH6.4150$400,000
March 13:13 AM CSTEF1Jackson, AR4.2200$30,000
March 13:20 AM CSTEF1Jackson, AR1.6125$100,000
March 15:00 AM ESTEF2Daviess, IN0.130$40,000
March 15:05 AM ESTEF2Daviess, IN1.530$65,000
March 14:08 AM CSTEF0Jackson, IL4.125$2,000
March 15:10 AM ESTEF1Daviess, IN0.030$35,000
March 15:30 AM ESTEF1Lawrence, IN0.240$22,000
March 15:37 AM ESTEF2Lawrence, IN0.7251$175,000
March 14:40 AM CSTEF1Mississippi, MO15.2200$400,000
March 15:41 AM ESTEF1Washington, IN5.8100$150,000
March 15:45 AM ESTEF2Jackson, IN0.350$45,000
March 14:51 AM CSTEF0Dyer, TN3.750$50,000
March 16:04 AM ESTEF1Clark, IN0.320$200,000
March 16:05 AM ESTEF1Scott, IN2.112510$250,000
March 15:25 AM CSTEF2Graves, KY1.6200$170,000
March 16:36 AM ESTEF1Henry, KY1.1200$100,000
March 17:03 AM ESTEF0Hamilton, OH1.1350$250,000
March 17:39 AM ESTEF1Highland, OH2.2150$50,000
March 16:57 AM CSTEF1Logan, KY1.675$100,000
March 17:00 AM CSTEF1Williamson, TN10.5250$7.3 million
March 18:16 AM ESTEF1Pike, OH0.6125$30,000
March 17:17 AM CSTEF0Davidson, TN3.1100$55,000
March 17:24 AM CSTEF1Warren, KY2.6125$250,000
March 17:37 AM CSTEF0Wilson, TN3.3100$15,000
March 17:40 AM CSTEF1Wilson, TN7.2200$110,000
March 17:51 AM CSTEF1Smith, TN3.9200$40,000
March 18:04 AM CSTEF1Putnam, TN7.6150$25,000
March 19:07 AM ESTEF1Meigs, OH0.1300$80,000
March 18:35 AM CSTEF1Putnam, TN0.190$10,000
March 14:27 PM ESTEF1Murray, GA2.9150$100,000

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.