Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2017

EF1 tornado, Argyle to Freeburg, Missouri, March 6, 2017

From Argyle to Freeburg, this EF1 tornado ran 7.3 miles across Osage County on March 6, 2017, touching down at 11:03 PM CST and reaching 75 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 mphthis tornado

    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
EF1
Date
March 6, 2017
Touchdown
11:03 PM CST (05:03 UTC)
Lifted
11:11 PM CST (05:11 UTC)
On the ground
8 minutes
Path length
7.3 miles (11.7 km)
Path width
75 yards (69 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Osage County
Touchdown point
38.301, -92.035
Lift-off point
38.324, -91.905
Record number
1703062303-01

The damage survey

7 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LSX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 100 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

As a cold front moved across the region, a squall line developed and moved rapidly east across the forecast area. There were numerous reports of damaging winds, large hail and 8 tornadoes.

A small tornado formed just to the west northwest of Argyle, MO and traveled east northeast to just northeast of Freeburg, MO. The tornado was at its strongest at the very beginning as it destroyed a hay barn, snapped and uprooted trees. The rest of the path consisted of occasional downed trees and broken large tree limbs. Overall, the tornado was rated EF1 with a path length of 7.26 miles and a max path width of 75 yards.

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 02:54 UTC and running to 06:03 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
02:54 UTC06:03 UTCTornado WatchLSX
04:55 UTC05:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX
17:00 UTC10:00 UTCFire Weather WatchLSX
17:00 UTC01:00 UTCRed Flag WarningLSX

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 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:54 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.

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 00:00Z

5.1 hours before the tornado, 225 km from the path. March 7, 2017.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2017-03-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 629 joules per kilogram, CIN -16, lifted condensation level 1110 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 2017-03-07The 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 319 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 54 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
629 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-16 J/kg
Surface CAPE
821 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1110 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
319 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
542 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.7
Supercell composite
8.2
0-3 km lapse rate
6.8 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 12:00Z

6.9 hours after it, 225 km from the path. March 7, 2017.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2017-03-07Temperature 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 -101590, lifted condensation level 2080 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 2017-03-07The 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 -321 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 80 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
-101590 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2080 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
80 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-321 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-140 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
2.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 120 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 05:04 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
04:03 UTCTORNADO1 Wnw ArgyleOsage, MOA NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM DETERMINED AN EF-1 TORNADO BEGAN AROUND 0.75 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF ARGYLE AND MOVED EAST NORTHEAST ACROSS SOUTHERN OSAGE COUNTY LIFTING 1 MILE NORTHEAST OF FREEBURG. THE PATH LENGTH WAS 7.3 MILE
04:45 UTCHAIL 0.259 E FultonCallaway, MOONE INCH DIA TREE LIMBS BLOWN DOWN
04:50 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Sse Rocky MountMorgan, MOREPORTED AT OAK KNOLL ROAD, ROCKY MOUNT, MO PART OF BUILDING ON ROAD.
04:51 UTCHAIL 1FultonCallaway, MO
05:15 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Sw TuscumbiaMiller, MOROOF BLOWN OFF BARN.
05:15 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Wsw TuscumbiaMiller, MOROOF BLOWN OFF BARN.
05:17 UTCTORNADORhinelandMontgomery, MOA NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM DETERMINED AN EF-1 TORNADO BEGAN IN RHINELAND AND MOVED EAST-NORTHEAST ACROSS SOUTHWEST WARREN COUNTY LIFTING AROUND 2 MILES SSE OF WARRENTON. THE PATH LENGTH WAS 21 MILES WITH A MAXIMUM WIDTH OF
05:18 UTCTSTM WND DMGMarys HomeMiller, MOMINOR DAMAGE TO A METAL SIGN AND OUTBUILDING. PICTURE FROM SOCIAL MEDIA AND TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
05:30 UTCTSTM WND GST 561 Nnw VichyMaries, MOREPORTED AT KVIH WIND GUST FROM THE SOUTH AT 56 MPH. DELAYED REPORT. CORRECTED TIME.
05:30 UTCTSTM WND GST 561 Nnw VichyMaries, MOREPORTED AT KVIH WIND GUST FROM THE WEST AT 56 MPH. DELAYED REPORT. CORRECTED WIND DIRECTION.
05:30 UTCTSTM WND GST 561 Nnw VichyMaries, MOVIH ASOS WIND GUST.
05:35 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Nnw Devil'S ElbowPulaski, MOMULTIPLE TREES DOWN, SOME ON TOP OF MOBILE HOMES. AREA WILL BE SURVEYED BY NWS.
05:40 UTCTSTM WND DMGRollaPhelps, MOMINOR DAMAGE TO ROOFING AND SIDING TO AN APARTMENT COMPLEX IN ROLLA. PICTURE FROM SOCIAL MEDIA AND TIME WAS ESTIMATED.
06:27 UTCTSTM WND GST 561 Nnw VichyMaries, MOREPORTED AT KVIH WIND GUST FROM THE SOUTH AT 56 MPH. DELAYED REPORT.
06:27 UTCTSTM WND GST 562 Nnw VichyMaries, MOREPORTED AT KVIH WIND GUST FROM THE SOUTH AT 56 MPH. DELAYED REPORT.

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 6, 2017

53 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
March 65:04 PM CSTEF1Faribault, MN9.3200
March 65:23 PM CSTEF0Webster, IA2.430
March 65:28 PM CSTEF1Webster, IA2.950$70,000
March 65:35 PM CSTEF0Geary, KS0.150
March 65:36 PM CSTEF0Wabaunsee, KS16.150
March 65:37 PM CSTEF0Pottawatomie, KS0.025
March 65:37 PM CSTEF0Wabaunsee, KS0.150
March 65:38 PM CSTEF1Freeborn, MN11.9300
March 65:39 PM CSTEF1Sherburne, MN8.8300
March 65:59 PM CSTEF0Wabaunsee, KS1.950
March 66:13 PM CSTEF0Shawnee, KS5.250
March 66:27 PM CSTEF0Boone, IA17.985$125,000
March 66:30 PM CSTEF0Nodaway, MO5.825
March 66:58 PM CSTEF1Hardin, IA6.3300$25,000
March 67:05 PM CSTEF0Butler, KS0.150
March 67:19 PM CSTEF1Warren, IA4.8100$80,000
March 67:24 PM CSTEF2Clay, MO19.61,000
March 67:29 PM CSTEF1Marion, IA5.3120$50,000
March 67:35 PM CSTEF1Marion, IA6.880$20,000
March 67:38 PM CSTEF1Franklin, KS3.050
March 67:40 PM CSTEF1Mercer, MO10.3100
March 67:47 PM CSTEF0Marion, IA5.565$25,000
March 67:51 PM CSTEF0Johnson, KS0.3100
March 68:03 PM CSTEF0Jackson, MO2.325
March 68:11 PM CSTEF3Jackson, MO17.740012
March 68:16 PM CSTEF2Wayne, IA14.9250$2.0 million
March 68:30 PM CSTEF1Appanoose, IA8.060$40,000
March 68:33 PM CSTEF2Appanoose, IA9.790$750,000
March 68:34 PM CSTEF1Lafayette, MO1.850
March 68:40 PM CSTEF0Carroll, MO6.0100
March 68:46 PM CSTEF1La Crosse, WI2.6200$290,000
March 68:56 PM CSTEF1Chariton, MO19.8100
March 69:10 PM CSTEF0Pettis, MO3.925
March 69:17 PM CSTEF0Henry, MO7.825
March 69:40 PM CSTEF0Cooper, MO17.4400
March 69:40 PM CSTEF1Shelby, MO18.51501
March 69:44 PM CSTEF1Adair, OK6.1650$100,000
March 69:50 PM CSTEF0Dubuque, IA5.725$5,000
March 69:56 PM CSTEF2Louisa, IA0.3150
March 610:00 PM CSTEF1Hickory, MO0.8100$5,000
March 610:05 PM CSTEF2Muscatine, IA1.82003$100,000
March 610:13 PM CSTEF2Muscatine, IA25.31,000$52,000
March 610:18 PM CSTEF1Cedar, IA16.6100$110,000
March 610:19 PM CSTEF2Scott, IA34.7200
March 610:24 PM CSTEF1Camden, MO2.04001$100,000
March 610:36 PM CSTEF0Morgan, MO0.350$100,000
March 610:40 PM CSTEF0Clinton, IA4.450
March 610:51 PM CSTEF1Washington, AR6.4400$40,000
March 610:53 PM CSTEF1Whiteside, IL1.510
March 611:17 PM CSTEF1Montgomery, MO20.9150
March 611:38 PM CSTEF2Newton, AR36.67001$400,000
March 611:51 PM CSTEF1Saint Charles, MO3.11003
March 611:52 PM CSTEF1Mason, IL6.8150$150,000

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.