Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2017
EF1 tornado, Gravois Mills Arpt, Missouri, May 27, 2017
This EF1 tornado ran 0.1 miles across Morgan County on May 27, 2017, touching down at 2:38 PM CDT and reaching 300 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.
EF065 to 85 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
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
- EF1
- Date
- May 27, 2017
- Touchdown
- 2:38 PM CDT (19:38 UTC)
- Lifted
- 2:39 PM CDT (19:39 UTC)
- On the ground
- 1 minutes
- Path length
- 0.1 miles (0.1 km)
- Path width
- 300 yards (274 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $25,000
- County
- Morgan County
- Touchdown point
- 38.192, -92.785
- Lift-off point
- 38.192, -92.784
- Record number
- 1705271338-01
The damage survey
2 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS SGF, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 90 mph.
- Also had the roof of a large metal building partially removed.
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 brought damaging straight-line winds, large hail, tornadoes, and flooding to the Missouri Ozarks from May 27th into the early morning hours of May 28th. Over 130 reports of severe weather and flooding were received from the Missouri Ozarks.
A NWS storm survey team confirmed an EF-1 tornado briefly touched down approximately 2 miles north-northeast of Sunrise Beach. Numerous trees were uprooted. There was damage to a roof of a metal building. Estimated maximum wind speeds were up to 90 mph.
A NWS storm survey confirmed an EF-1 tornado briefly touched down approximately one mile north of Sunrise Beach. Estimated maximum wind speeds were up to 90 mph. Numerous trees were uprooted.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
15 minutes of warning. NWS SGF issued a tornado warning for this county at 19:23 UTC, 15 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 20:00 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 17:16 UTC and running to 23:26 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17:16 UTC | 23:26 UTC | Tornado Watch | SGF |
| 18:00 UTC | 03:08 UTC | Flash Flood Watch | SGF |
| 19:04 UTC | 19:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | SGF |
| 19:23 UTC | 20:00 UTC | Tornado Warning | SGF |
| 19:41 UTC | 20:04 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | SGF |
| 23:26 UTC | 02:28 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | 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 Moderate Risk, with a 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 16:19 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
7.6 hours before the tornado, 169 km from the path. May 27, 2017.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 3187 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -48 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 1824 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 766 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 36 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 14 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 127 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 138 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.8
- Supercell composite
- 9.6
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.4 K/km
The radar
The Springfield radar (KSGF), 119 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 19:37 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17:51 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | California | Moniteau, MO | |
| 18:21 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Sw Brazito | Cole, MO | LARGE TREE DOWN IN BRAZITO. |
| 18:50 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 Ne Warsaw | Benton, MO | TREES ON RAODWAY IN 3 LOCATIONS. POWER LINES BLOCKING ROADWAY ON HWY BB AND FITZPATRICK, BB AND ALLEN RD. AND MONSEES AVE AND B HWY. VEHICLE WRAPPED UP IN POWER LINES WITH ONE OCCUPANT IN VEHICLE. CORRECT TIME AND DAMAGE |
| 19:00 UTC | TSTM WND GST 50 | 3 Wnw Cole Camp | Benton, MO | |
| 19:10 UTC | HAIL 1 | Otterville | Cooper, MO | |
| 19:10 UTC | TSTM WND GST 60 | 3 Ese Racket | Benton, MO | TRUMAN STATE PARK REPORTED WINDS GUST 60MPH WITH NICKEL SIZE HAIL. |
| 19:10 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | 3 Ese Racket | Benton, MO | TRUMAN STATE PARK REPORTED WINDS GUST 60MPH WITH NICKEL SIZE HAIL. |
| 19:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Nw Brazito | Cole, MO | NUMEROUS TREE LIMBS DOWN ALONG RT D. |
| 19:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 S Stover | Morgan, MO | POWER-LINES DOWN NEAR HWY135. |
| 19:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Gravois Mills | Morgan, MO | ROOF OR STRUCTURE DAMAGE. SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE. MULTIPLE LARGE TREES DOWN. |
| 19:30 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Laurie | Morgan, MO | NUMEROUS TREES DOWN NEAR HWY 5. |
| 19:38 UTC | TORNADO | 1 N Sunrise Beach | Morgan, MO | NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM CONFIRMED AN EF-1 TORNADO THAT BRIEFLY TOUCHED DOWN APPROXIMATELY 1 MILE NORTH OF SUNRISE BEACH. THE TORNADO HAD A PATH WIDTH OF 50 YARDS. MAXIMUM WINDS WERE ESTIMATED TO BE 90 MPH. NUMEROUS TREES W |
| 19:38 UTC | TORNADO | 1 N Sunrise Beach | Morgan, MO | NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM CONFIRMED AN EF-1 TORNADO THAT BRIEFLY TOUCHED DOWN APPROXIMATELY 1 MILE NORTH OF SUNRISE BEACH. THE TORNADO HAD A PATH WIDTH OF 50 YARDS. MAXIMUM WINDS WERE ESTIMATED TO BE 90 MPH. NUMEROUS TREES W |
| 19:38 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Nne Sunrise Beach | Morgan, MO | NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM CONFIRMED AN EF-1 TORNADO THAT BRIEFLY TOUCHED DOWN APPROXIMATELY 2 MILE NORTH-NORTHEAST OF SUNRISE BEACH. THE TORNADO HAD A PATH WIDTH OF 300 YARDS. MAXIMUM WINDS WERE ESTIMATED TO BE 90 MPH. NUMER |
| 19:38 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Nne Sunrise Beach | Morgan, MO | NWS STORM SURVEY TEAM CONFIRMED AN EF-1 TORNADO THAT BRIEFLY TOUCHED DOWN APPROXIMATELY 2 MILE NORTH-NORTHEAST OF SUNRISE BEACH. THE TORNADO HAD A PATH WIDTH OF 300 YARDS. MAXIMUM WINDS WERE ESTIMATED TO BE 90 MPH. NUMER |
| 19:42 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | California | Moniteau, MO | TREES DOWNED AND TRANSFORMER CAUGHT FIRE. TIME ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. |
| 19:45 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 4 Wsw Osage Beach | Camden, MO | 5 DIAMETER TREE ACROSS ROAD, NICHOLS RD NEAR SYCAMORE GOLF COURSE, OSAGE BEACH. TIME BASED ON RADAR. |
| 19:56 UTC | TSTM WND GST 72 | Osage Beach | Camden, MO | WINDS HAS DOWNED LIMBS IN THE KK AREA. |
| 20:00 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Eldon | Miller, MO | LARGE TREE DOWN ROCK ISLAND PARK. VIA SOCIAL MEDIA. |
| 20:15 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 3 Ne Meta | Osage, MO | TREES DOWN ON MO HWY P. |
| 20:15 UTC | TSTM WND GST 40 | Meta | Osage, MO | |
| 20:17 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 Ne Warsaw | Benton, MO | TREES ON RAODWAY IN 3 LOCATIONS. POWER LINES BLOCKING ROADWAY ON HWY BB AND FITZPATRICK, BB AND ALLEN RD. AND MONSEES AVE AND B HWY. VEHICLE WRAPPED UP IN POWER LINES WITH ONE OCCUPANT IN VEHICLE. CORRECT TIME AND DAMAGE |
| 20:35 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 5 Ne Warsaw | Benton, MO | MULTIPLE TREES BLOCKING ROAD WAYS. POWER LINES DOWN IN BELLE. |
| 22:45 UTC | HAIL 1 | 1 N Camdenton | Camden, MO | 1.00 INCH HAIL OBSERVED BY TRAINED SPOTTER. |
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 27, 2017
13 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 27 | 2:38 PM CDT | EF1 | Morgan, MO | 0.1 | 50 | $50,000 | ||
| May 27 | 2:50 PM CDT | EF1 | Laclede, MO | 9.0 | 100 | $100,000 | ||
| May 27 | 3:05 PM CDT | EF1 | Laclede, MO | 5.0 | 400 | $100,000 | ||
| May 27 | 3:09 PM CDT | EF1 | Laclede, MO | 2.1 | 100 | |||
| May 27 | 3:25 PM CDT | EF1 | Laclede, MO | 0.0 | 100 | |||
| May 27 | 4:00 PM CDT | EF0 | Dent, MO | 0.0 | 50 | |||
| May 27 | 8:18 PM CDT | EF0 | Butler, MO | 1.9 | 85 | $40,000 | ||
| May 27 | 8:20 PM CDT | EF0 | Okfuskee, OK | 2.1 | 100 | |||
| May 27 | 8:55 PM CDT | Unrated | Okfuskee, OK | 0.6 | 100 | |||
| May 27 | 10:17 PM CDT | Unrated | Murray, OK | 2.8 | 50 | |||
| May 27 | 10:39 PM CDT | Unrated | Johnston, OK | 1.5 | 50 | |||
| May 27 | 11:06 PM CDT | Unrated | Jefferson, OK | 2.5 | 100 | |||
| May 27 | 11:45 PM CDT | EF1 | Crawford, OK to AR | 11.2 | 700 | $30,000 |
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.