Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2017

EF0 tornado, Turners to Springfield Bar H Ar, Missouri, May 19, 2017

Name: EF0 tornado, Turners to Springfield Bar H Ar, Missouri, May 19, 2017
Start: 2017-05-19T06:54:00.000Z
End: 2017-05-19T06:56:00.000Z
Location: Turners to Springfield Bar H Ar, Missouri

From Turners to Springfield Bar H Ar, this EF0 tornado ran 2.5 miles across Greene County on May 19, 2017, touching down at 1:54 AM CDT and reaching 200 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $100,000 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.

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: 1:54 AM CDT (06:54 UTC)
Lifted: 1:56 AM CDT (06:56 UTC)
On the ground: 2 minutes
Path length: 2.5 miles (4.0 km)
Path width: 200 yards (183 m)
Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $100,000
County: Greene County
Touchdown point: 37.173, -93.165
Lift-off point: 37.185, -93.122
Record number: 1705190054-01

The damage survey

5 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.

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.

An EF-0 tornado uprooted numerous trees along the path. Some trees fell on homes. Estimated maximum winds were up to 85 mph.

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 tornado watch, issued at 04:06 UTC and running to 07:43 UTC.

Issued (UTC)	Expired	Product	Office
04:06 UTC	07:43 UTC	Tornado Watch	SGF
06:47 UTC	07:45 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SGF
20:11 UTC	02:48 UTC	Tornado Watch	SGF
21:01 UTC	21:45 UTC	Tornado Warning	SGF
21:11 UTC	22:15 UTC	Severe Thunderstorm 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 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 06:00 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.

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 00:00Z

6.9 hours before the tornado, 66 km from the path. May 19, 2017.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

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: 2055 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -4 J/kg
Surface CAPE: 3169 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1439 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 33 kt
0-1 km bulk shear: 12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 44 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 52 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.2
Supercell composite: 2.4
0-3 km lapse rate: 7.2 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 12:00Z

5.1 hours after it, 66 km from the path. May 19, 2017.

Skew-T log-p

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.

Hodograph

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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Springfield radar (KSGF), 24 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 06:56 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
06:27 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Reeds Spring	Stone, MO	A POWERLINE WAS REPORTED DOWN ON HIGHWAY 413 ACROSS FROM THE REEDS SPRING HIGH SCHOOL.
06:30 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 W Branson	Taney, MO	* 1 INJ * RELAYED REPORT FROM LEO, SHINGLES BLOWN OF THE CAMDEN HOTEL. FENCE BLOWN DOWN NEAR THE TANGER MALL. ONE PERSON REPORTED WITH A HEAD INJURY AT THE CAMDEN HOTEL.
06:30 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	3 W Branson	Taney, MO	* 1 INJ * RELAYED REPORT FROM LEO, SHINGLES BLOWN OF THE CAMDEN HOTEL. FENCE BLOWN DOWN NEAR THE TANGER MALL. ONE PERSON REPORTED WITH A HEAD INJURY AT THE CAMDEN HOTEL.
06:30 UTC	TORNADO	3 W Branson	Taney, MO	* 1 INJ * EF-0 TORNADO WITH WINDS UP TO 75MPH CAUSED DAMAGE TO A MOTEL. ONE PERSON SUFFERED INJURIES.
06:36 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	3 E Battlefield	Greene, MO	REPORT OF 6 DIAMETER TREE DOWN ON COX ROAD ACROSS FROM WANDA GRAY ELEMENTARY.
06:39 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Merriam Woods	Taney, MO	REPORTS OF MULTIPLE POWER LINES AND TREES DOWN.
06:39 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Rockaway Beach	Taney, MO	40 INCH DIAMETER TREE DOWN AT 137 LOTUS IN ROCKAWAY BEACH. TIME ESTIMATED VIA RADAR.
06:40 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	1 E Forsyth	Taney, MO	REPORTS OF LIMBS FROM 3 TO 4 INCHES IN DIAMETER ON THE ROAD.
06:40 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	1 Ese Forsyth	Taney, MO	REPORTS OF LIMBS FROM 3 TO 4 INCHES IN DIAMETER ON THE ROAD.
06:46 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	1 Sw Taneyville	Taney, MO	A LARGE TREE WAS REPORTED DOWN ACROSS HIGHWAY 76.
06:47 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	1 Sw Taneyville	Taney, MO	NUMEROUS TREES REPORTED DOWN ON HULLS FORD ROAD.
06:47 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Merriam Woods	Taney, MO	ROOF DAMAGE REPORTED TO HOMES.
06:48 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Taneyville	Taney, MO	ROOF DAMAGE REPORTED TO HOMES.
06:48 UTC	TORNADO	1 Nnw Taneyville	Taney, MO	EF-1 TORNADO WITH WINDS OF 100 MPH OCCURRED FROM ROCKAWAY BEACH TO JUST NORTHWEST OF TANEYVILLE. NUMEROUS TREES WERE DAMAGED AND UPROOTED.
06:50 UTC	HAIL 0.75	2 S Highlandville	Christian, MO
06:54 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	1 Ssw Turners	Greene, MO	TREES BLOWN ONTO TWO HOMES CAUSING DAMAGE.
06:54 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Turners	Greene, MO	TREES BLOWN ONTO TWO HOMES CAUSING DAMAGE.
06:54 UTC	TORNADO	1 Ssw Turners	Greene, MO	EF-0 TORNADO UPROOTED NUMEROUS TREES ALONG ITS PATH. SOME TREES FELL ON HOMES. MAXIMUM WINDS WERE ESTIMATED AT 85 MPH WITH A PATH LENGTH OF 2.4 MILES.
06:54 UTC	TORNADO	1 Sw Turners	Greene, MO	EF-0 TORNADO UPROOTED NUMEROUS TREES ALONG ITS PATH. SOME TREES FELL ON HOMES. MAXIMUM WINDS WERE ESTIMATED AT 85 MPH WITH A PATH LENGTH OF 2.4 MILES.
06:56 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Turners	Greene, MO	LARGE TREE REPORTED DOWN NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF STATE HIGHWAY D AND HIGHWAY 125.
06:57 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Turners	Greene, MO	MULTIPLE TREES WERE REPORTED DOWN IN THE 6400 BLOCK OF EAST SKYLINE DRIVE AND RIDGELINE BLOCKING ROAD..
07:00 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Chadwick	Christian, MO	REPORTS RELAYED FROM FIRE DEPT OF TREE DOWN ON HIGHWAY 125. TREES REPORTED DOWN ON TWO HOMES.
07:00 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Chadwick	Christian, MO	A TREE WAS BLOWN ONTO A HOME CAUSING SIGNIFICANT ROOF DAMAGE.
07:00 UTC	TORNADO	1 S Chadwick	Christian, MO	EF-0 TORNADO WITH 85 MPH WINDS UPROOTED NUMEROUS TREES AND TWO HOMES HAD DAMAGE DUE TO TREES FALLING ON THEM.
07:02 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 Nw Rome	Douglas, MO	REPORTS OF TREES DOWN FROM DD HIGHWAY SOUTH OF GOODHOPE CLOSE TO PLAINVIEW SCHOOL.
07:02 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	3 S Goodhope	Douglas, MO	REPORTS OF TREES DOWN FROM DD HIGHWAY SOUTH OF GOODHOPE CLOSE TO PLAINVIEW SCHOOL.
07:07 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	Rogersville	Webster, MO	SEVERAL LARGE TREES BLOWN DOWN IN ROGERSVILLE. PICTURES WERE FROM SOCIAL MEDIA.
07:09 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 Ese Elkhead	Christian, MO	TWO VERY LARGE OAK TREES REPORTED DOWN ON 194 LEMING ROAD AT THE DOUGLAS AND CHRISTIAN COUNTY LINE.
07:09 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	2 Ese Elkhead	Douglas, MO	TWO VERY LARGE OAK TREES REPORTED DOWN ON 194 LEMING ROAD AT THE DOUGLAS AND CHRISTIAN COUNTY LINE.
07:15 UTC	TORNADO	6 Wsw Conway	Webster, MO	AN EF-1 TORNADO WITH ESTIMATED WINDS OF 90 MPH TOUCHED DOWN ALONG MO ROUTE Y IN NORTHERN WEBSTER COUNTY. THE TORNADO WAS ON THE GROUND FOR ABOUT 2 MILES AND WAS ABOUT 300 YARDS WIDE. ONE HOME SUSTAINED MINOR ROOF DAMAGE.
07:20 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	1 W Ava	Douglas, MO	A LARGE TREE WAS REPORTED DOWN ON THE ROAD.
07:20 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	1 Wsw Ava	Douglas, MO	A LARGE TREE WAS REPORTED DOWN ON THE ROAD.
07:20 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	5 Se Strafford	Webster, MO	80 FOOT TALL TREE WITH 4 FOOT CIRCUMFERENCE AT BASE FELL TAKING OUT POWER POLES AND POWER LINES. LOTS OF 7 TO 10 INCH LIMBS DOWN ON TRAILER HOUSE. NUMEROUS 4 TO 6 INCH LIMBS DOWN IN AREA. TIME ESTIMATED VIA RADAR.
07:20 UTC	TSTM WND DMG	5 Se Strafford	Webster, MO	LOTS OF 7 TO 10 INCH LIMBS DOWN ON TRAILER HOUSE. NUMEROUS 4 TO 6 INCH LIMBS DOWN IN AREA. TIME ESTIMATED VIA RADAR.
07:22 UTC	LIGHTNING	1 N Ava	Douglas, MO	LIGHTNING STRUCK A HOME. OWNER INDICATED SPARKS FROM APPLIANCES WHEN IT OCCURRED.
07:22 UTC	LIGHTNING	Ava	Douglas, MO	LIGHTNING STRUCK A HOME. OWNER INDICATED SPARKS FROM APPLIANCES WHEN IT OCCURRED.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the track Every 2017 tornado in Missouri Every tornado in Missouri since 1950 Warnings in force in Missouri now The 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)	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	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	4:05 PM CDT	EF0	Dade, MO	0.9	100
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.