Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2017
EF0 tornado, Emmet, Missouri, May 19, 2017
This EF0 tornado ran 0.9 miles across Dade County on May 19, 2017, touching down at 4:05 PM CDT and reaching 100 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.
EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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
- May 19, 2017
- Touchdown
- 4:05 PM CDT (21:05 UTC)
- Lifted
- 4:06 PM CDT (21:06 UTC)
- On the ground
- 1 minutes
- Path length
- 0.9 miles (1.4 km)
- Path width
- 100 yards (91 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Dade County
- Touchdown point
- 37.299, -93.668
- Lift-off point
- 37.310, -93.660
- Record number
- 1705191505-01
The damage survey
9 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 85 mph.
- Baseball stadium also bent
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
Multiple rounds of severe thunderstorms over a two day period produced numerous weak tornadoes and wind damage reports across the Missouri Ozarks. Training of storms led to localized heavy rainfall and minor flooding reports.
A brief EF-0 tornado touched down southeast of Everton in rural Dade County along County Road 231. Multiple trees were damaged along the path. Estimated maximum winds were up to 80 mph.
A brief EF-0 tornado touched down east of Everton. Several trees were damaged on either side of East Dade Road 152. Estimated maximum winds were up to 80 mph.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
25 minutes of warning. NWS SGF issued a tornado warning for this county at 20:40 UTC, 25 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 21:30 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:11 UTC and running to 03:00 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 06:00 UTC | 09:08 UTC | Flash Flood Watch | SGF |
| 20:11 UTC | 03:00 UTC | Tornado Watch | SGF |
| 20:40 UTC | 21:30 UTC | Tornado Warning | SGF |
| 21:01 UTC | 21:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | SGF |
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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:59 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), 12:00Z
9.1 hours before the tornado, 47 km from the path. May 19, 2017.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -80475 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 968 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 35 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 29 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -97 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 118 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.3 K/km
Springfield, MO (KSGF), 00:00Z
2.9 hours after it, 47 km from the path. May 20, 2017.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -71392 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 37 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1427 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 55 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 25 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -186 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -113 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.5 K/km
The surface observations
Springfield (SGF), 25 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 19:05 UTC | 1012.9 | |||||
| 19:10 UTC | 1012.9 | |||||
| 19:15 UTC | 1012.9 | |||||
| 19:20 UTC | 1012.9 | |||||
| 19:25 UTC | 180° 13 kt | 1012.9 | ||||
| 19:30 UTC | 190° 13 kt | 1012.9 | ||||
| 19:35 UTC | 170° 13 kt | 1012.9 | ||||
| 19:40 UTC | 170° 12 kt | 1012.5 | ||||
| 19:45 UTC | 170° 11 kt | 1012.5 | ||||
| 19:50 UTC | 170° 16 kt | 1012.5 | ||||
| 19:52 UTC | 77 | 67 | 180° 15 kt | 1012.5 | ||
| 19:55 UTC | 1012.5 | |||||
| 20:00 UTC | 180° 13 kt | 1012.5 | ||||
| 20:05 UTC | 1012.5 | |||||
| 20:10 UTC | 1012.5 | |||||
| 20:15 UTC | 170° 12 kt | 1012.9 | ||||
| 20:20 UTC | 160° 13 kt | 18 | 1012.5 | |||
| 20:25 UTC | 190° 13 kt | 1012.5 | ||||
| 20:30 UTC | 160° 14 kt | 1012.5 | ||||
| 20:35 UTC | 170° 9 kt | 1012.2 | ||||
| 20:40 UTC | 1012.2 | |||||
| 20:45 UTC | 170° 12 kt | 1012.5 | ||||
| 20:50 UTC | 170° 10 kt | 1012.5 | ||||
| 20:52 UTC | 76 | 67 | 180° 12 kt | 1012.5 | ||
| 20:55 UTC | 180° 9 kt | 1012.5 | ||||
| 21:00 UTC | 170° 10 kt | 1012.5 | ||||
| 21:05 UTC | 180° 11 kt | 1012.9 | ||||
| 21:10 UTC | 180° 11 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 21:15 UTC | 170° 12 kt | 1013.2 | ||||
| 21:20 UTC | 75 | 67 | 180° 10 kt | 1013.2 | VCTS | |
| 21:25 UTC | ||||||
| 21:30 UTC | 69 | 61 | 250° 22 kt | 34 | 1015.9 | TSRA |
| 21:32 UTC | 67 | 61 | 250° 19 kt | 34 | 1015.2 | +TSRA |
| 21:35 UTC | 250° 15 kt | 1014.9 | +RA BR | |||
| 21:39 UTC | 63 | 61 | 230° 14 kt | 25 | 1015.2 | +TSRA BR |
| 21:40 UTC | 220° 13 kt | +RA BR | ||||
| 21:45 UTC | 210° 5 kt | 1014.2 | +RA BR | |||
| 21:47 UTC | 62.6 | 62.6 | 200° 3 kt | 1014.2 | +TSRA BR | |
| 21:50 UTC | 160° 5 kt | 1014.2 | +RA BR | |||
| 21:52 UTC | 64 | 62 | 150° 6 kt | 1014.2 | TSRA BR | |
| 21:55 UTC | 64 | 62 | 160° 8 kt | 1014.2 | -TSRA BR | |
| 22:00 UTC | 120° 5 kt | 1013.2 | -RA | |||
| 22:05 UTC | 0° 0 kt | 1013.2 | RA BR | |||
| 22:10 UTC | 0° 0 kt | 1013.2 | -RA | |||
| 22:15 UTC | 140° 8 kt | 1013.9 | -RA | |||
| 22:20 UTC | 130° 5 kt | 1013.5 | -RA | |||
| 22:25 UTC | 110° 6 kt | 1013.5 | -RA | |||
| 22:26 UTC | 64 | 62 | 110° 6 kt | 1013.5 | VCTS -RA | |
| 22:30 UTC | 100° 8 kt | 1013.2 | -RA | |||
| 22:35 UTC | 1012.9 | -RA | ||||
| 22:40 UTC | 90° 10 kt | 1012.5 | -RA | |||
| 22:45 UTC | 64 | 62 | 90° 10 kt | 1012.2 | -RA | |
| 22:50 UTC | 90° 9 kt | 1012.2 | ||||
| 22:52 UTC | 65 | 63 | 90° 8 kt | 1012.2 | ||
| 22:55 UTC | 90° 6 kt | 1012.2 | ||||
| 23:00 UTC | 110° 7 kt | 1012.2 |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Springfield radar (KSGF), 25 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 21:05 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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20:35 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Pierce City | Lawrence, MO | ESTIMATED 60 MPH WINDS. |
| 20:40 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 Sse La Russell | Lawrence, MO | REPORT OF A HOME HEAVY DAMAGED NEAR EXIT 33 ON I-44. |
| 20:42 UTC | TORNADO | 3 N Freistatt | Lawrence, MO | AN EF-1 TORNADO WITH ESTIMATED WINDS OF 95 MPH TOUCHED DOWN SOUTHWEST OF MOUNT VERNON. THE TORNADO WAS ON THE GROUND FOR ABOUT 4 MILES AND WAS ABOUT 300 YARDS WIDE. A COUPLE OF OUTBUILDINGS WERE DAMAGED AND SEVERAL TREES |
| 20:42 UTC | TORNADO | 3 S Stotts City | Lawrence, MO | AN EF-1 TORNADO WITH ESTIMATED WINDS OF 95 MPH TOUCHED DOWN SOUTHWEST OF MOUNT VERNON. THE TORNADO WAS ON THE GROUND FOR ABOUT 4 MILES AND WAS ABOUT 300 YARDS WIDE. A COUPLE OF OUTBUILDINGS WERE DAMAGED AND SEVERAL TREES |
| 20:44 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 S Stotts City | Lawrence, MO | MULTIPLE BUILDINGS DAMAGED NEAR 39.8 MM ALONG I-44 PER MERCY EMS SUPERVISOR. |
| 20:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Nne Hoberg | Lawrence, MO | CAR BLOWN OFF OF I-44 NEAR 43 MM ALONG I-44. |
| 20:49 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Wnw Mount Vernon | Lawrence, MO | REPORT OF A BARN IN THE ROADWAY ALONG OO HIGHWAY 1/4 MILE WEST OF 39 HIGHWAY. |
| 20:55 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Miller | Lawrence, MO | SOCIAL MEDIA PICTURE OF BLEACHERS THROWN INTO NETTING AT THE MILLER BALLPARK. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. |
| 20:57 UTC | TORNADO | 1 Nnw Miller | Lawrence, MO | AN EF-0 RATED TORNADO OCCURRED NORTH-NORTHWEST OF MILLER, WITH ESTIMATED PEAK WINDS OF 85 MPH. THE TORNADO HAD A PATH LENGTH OF 1 MI WITH AN APPROXIMATE WIDTH OF 100 YARDS. THE TORNADO CAUSED DAMAGE TO NUMEROUS TREES, AS |
| 21:00 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Lockwood | Dade, MO | SEVERAL LIMBS DOWN IN EVERTON AND LOCKWOOD. |
| 21:05 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Se Everton | Dade, MO | A BRIEF EF-0 RATED TORNADO OCCURRED 3 MILES SOUTHEAST OF EVERTON IN DADE COUNTY ALONG DADE RD 231. MULTIPLE TREES WERE DAMAGED ALONG A PATH IN THE AREA. THE PATH WAS APPROXIMATELY 0.83 MILES LONG, WITH AN ESTIMATED PEAK |
| 21:12 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Ene Everton | Dade, MO | A BRIEF EF-0 RATED TORNADO OCCURRED 2 MILES ENE OF EVERTON. DAMAGE WAS LIMITED TO SEVERAL TREES ON EITHER SIDE OF E DADE RD 152. THE PATH WAS APPROXIMATELY 1/2 MILE LONG WITH AN ESTIMATED PEAK WIND SPEED OF 80 MPH. |
| 21:19 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Wnw Walnut Grove | Polk, MO | AN EF0 TORNADO OCCURRED ALONG THE GREENE/POLK COUNTY LINE WNW OF WALNUT GROVE ON THE AFTERNOON OF MAY 15. DAMAGE INCLUDED SEVERAL UPROOTED TREES AND DAMAGE TO AN OUTBUILDING JUST INSIDE POLK COUNTY. THE TORNADO HAD A PAT |
| 21:19 UTC | TORNADO | 3 Wnw Walnut Grove | Polk, MO | AN EF0 TORNADO OCCURRED ALONG THE GREENE/POLK COUNTY LINE WNW OF WALNUT GROVE ON THE AFTERNOON OF MAY 19. DAMAGE INCLUDED SEVERAL UPROOTED TREES AND DAMAGE TO AN OUTBUILDING JUST INSIDE POLK COUNTY. THE TORNADO HAD A PAT |
| 21:24 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Wnw Walnut Grove | Polk, MO | MULTIPLE TREES DOWN, GARAGE DAMAGED. |
| 21:24 UTC | HAIL 1.25 | Republic | Greene, MO | QUARTER TO HALF DOLLAR SIZED HAIL PER PICTURE POSTED ON SOCIAL MEDIA. |
| 21:46 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Humansville | Polk, MO | POWERLINES DOWN BEHIND THE US BANK IN HUMANSVILLE. |
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 May 19, 2017
43 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 19 | 1:04 AM CDT | EF0 | Barry, MO | 0.1 | 100 | $50,000 | ||
| May 19 | 1:28 AM CDT | EF0 | Taney, MO | 0.3 | 75 | 1 | $10,000 | |
| May 19 | 1:30 AM CDT | EF1 | Taney, MO | 8.7 | 200 | |||
| May 19 | 1:54 AM CDT | EF0 | Greene, MO | 2.5 | 200 | $100,000 | ||
| May 19 | 2:00 AM CDT | EF0 | Christian, MO | 3.0 | 500 | $100,000 | ||
| May 19 | 2:15 AM CDT | EF1 | Webster, MO | 2.0 | 300 | $10,000 | ||
| May 19 | 3:00 AM CDT | EF0 | Wright, MO | 0.3 | 50 | $5,000 | ||
| May 19 | 3:12 AM CDT | EF0 | Oregon, MO | 0.8 | 300 | $50,000 | ||
| May 19 | 4:15 AM CDT | EF1 | Callaway, MO | 1.6 | 50 | |||
| May 19 | 4:23 AM CDT | EF0 | Montgomery, MO | 4.0 | 75 | |||
| May 19 | 2:55 PM CDT | EF1 | McDonald, MO | 2.0 | 10 | $50,000 | ||
| May 19 | 3:10 PM CDT | EF0 | Newton, MO | 4.1 | 300 | $50,000 | ||
| May 19 | 4:22 PM EDT | EF1 | Crawford, IN | 0.2 | 50 | $250,000 | ||
| May 19 | 3:23 PM CDT | Unrated | Runnels, TX | 0.0 | 30 | |||
| May 19 | 3:37 PM CDT | EF0 | Barber, KS | 0.4 | 50 | |||
| May 19 | 3:42 PM CDT | EF1 | Lawrence, MO | 4.2 | 300 | $50,000 | ||
| May 19 | 3:53 PM CDT | EF0 | Barber, KS | 3.0 | 150 | |||
| May 19 | 3:57 PM CDT | EF0 | Lawrence, MO | 1.0 | 100 | $5,000 | ||
| May 19 | 4:11 PM CDT | EF0 | Pratt, KS | 2.2 | 50 | |||
| May 19 | 4:12 PM CDT | EF0 | Dade, MO | 0.5 | 75 | |||
| May 19 | 4:14 PM CDT | EF0 | Pratt, KS | 4.5 | 75 | |||
| May 19 | 4:19 PM CDT | EF0 | Polk, MO | 0.6 | 100 | $5,000 | ||
| May 19 | 4:22 PM CDT | EF0 | Kingman, KS | 0.2 | 50 | |||
| May 19 | 4:53 PM CDT | EF0 | Kingman, KS | 0.3 | 50 | |||
| May 19 | 5:10 PM CDT | EF0 | Kingman, KS | 0.3 | 50 | |||
| May 19 | 5:32 PM CDT | EF0 | Reno, KS | 0.7 | 50 | |||
| May 19 | 5:37 PM CDT | EF0 | Reno, KS | 0.6 | 50 | |||
| May 19 | 6:00 PM CDT | Unrated | Archer, TX | 0.5 | 50 | |||
| May 19 | 6:27 PM CDT | EF1 | Cole, MO | 0.9 | 75 | |||
| May 19 | 7:15 PM CDT | EF0 | Clay, KS | 0.0 | 20 | |||
| May 19 | 7:22 PM CDT | Unrated | Carter, OK | 0.2 | 50 | |||
| May 19 | 7:24 PM CDT | Unrated | Carter, OK | 0.2 | 50 | |||
| May 19 | 7:27 PM CDT | Unrated | Coleman, TX | 0.1 | 25 | |||
| May 19 | 7:31 PM CDT | Unrated | Carter, OK | 0.2 | 50 | |||
| May 19 | 7:47 PM CDT | Unrated | Carter, OK | 2.0 | 400 | |||
| May 19 | 7:48 PM CDT | EF0 | Chase, KS | 0.2 | 50 | |||
| May 19 | 8:09 PM CDT | EF0 | Morris, KS | 0.0 | 25 | |||
| May 19 | 8:25 PM CDT | EF1 | Chase, KS | 0.8 | 60 | |||
| May 19 | 8:38 PM CDT | EF0 | Lyon, KS | 0.0 | 25 | |||
| May 19 | 9:32 PM CDT | Unrated | Johnston, OK | 1.5 | 50 | |||
| May 19 | 9:44 PM CDT | Unrated | Johnston, OK | 2.0 | 50 | |||
| May 19 | 9:56 PM CDT | Unrated | Johnston, OK | 6.0 | 50 | |||
| May 19 | 10:13 PM CDT | Unrated | Coal, OK | 3.0 | 50 |
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.