Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2018

EF1 tornado, Dent to Kimble, Missouri, April 13, 2018

From Dent to Kimble, this EF1 tornado ran 5.5 miles across Texas County on April 13, 2018, touching down at 8:20 PM CDT and reaching 50 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 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
April 13, 2018
Touchdown
8:20 PM CDT (01:20 UTC)
Lifted
8:25 PM CDT (01:25 UTC)
On the ground
5 minutes
Path length
5.5 miles (8.9 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$25,000
County
Texas County
Touchdown point
37.523, -91.925
Lift-off point
37.577, -91.849
Record number
1804131920-01

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 EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 97 mph.

  • trees uprooted and outbuildings damaged.

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

A strong cold front and associated spring storm system produce severe thunderstorms with very large hail and several tornadoes across the Missouri Ozarks.

An EF-1 Tornado damaged a house, a vacant mobile home, and numerous trees were snapped and uprooted. The tornado developed four miles west northwest of Licking and tracked five miles along Highway 32 before lifting five miles southeast of Beulah near Sherrill. The maximum width was 50 yards and estimated wind speed up to 100 mph.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

The warnings

23 minutes of warning. NWS SGF issued a tornado warning for this county at 00:57 UTC, 23 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 01:30 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 22:29 UTC and running to 04:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
22:29 UTC04:00 UTCTornado WatchSGF
00:05 UTC00:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGF
00:29 UTC01:00 UTCTornado WarningSGF
00:57 UTC01:30 UTCTornado WarningSGF
01:26 UTC01:57 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGF
01:37 UTC02:15 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGF
11:37 UTC17:30 UTCFlood AdvisorySGF
17:26 UTC03:30 UTCFlood AdvisorySGF

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 00:55 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

1.3 hours before the tornado, 184 km from the path. April 14, 2018.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2018-04-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 505 joules per kilogram, CIN -13, lifted condensation level 560 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 2018-04-14The 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 139 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 40 knots.19395878Sfc1 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
505 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-13 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1157 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
560 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
139 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
157 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
3.6
0-3 km lapse rate
6.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 12:00Z

10.7 hours after it, 184 km from the path. April 14, 2018.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2018-04-14Temperature 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 -105729, lifted condensation level 915 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 2018-04-14The 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 136 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 103 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-105729 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
915 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
103 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
136 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
412 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Springfield radar (KSGF), 138 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:16 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
00:35 UTCTORNADO1 W DawsonWright, MOAN EF-1 TORNADO WITH MAXIMUM WIDTH OF 75 YARDS AND MAXIMUM WINDS OF 100 MPH MOVED NORTHEAST FROM DOVE CREEK ROAD TO BATY ROAD. TREES AND OUTBUILDINGS WERE DAMAGED.
01:00 UTCTSTM WND DMGBucyrusTexas, MODAMAGE TO METAL CARPORT, ROOF OF HOUSE AND TREES. ROOF OF METAL CARPORT THROWN 1/10 TO 1/4 MILE. TIME ESTIMATED BY RADAR.
01:00 UTCTORNADO5 Sw SuccessTexas, MOAN EF-1 TORNADO WITH MAXIMUM WIDTH OF 50 YARDS AND MAXIMUM WINDS OF 95 MPH DAMAGED A ROOF, CARPORT, OUTBUILDING AND TREES ALONG A ONE AND A QUARTER MILE PATH FROM 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SUCCESS TO ONE HALF MILE EAST OF HIG
01:20 UTCTORNADO4 Wnw LickingTexas, MOAN EF-1 TORNADO WITH MAXIMUM WINDS OF 100 MPH AND MAXIMUM WIDTH OF 50 YARDS DAMAGED A HOUSE, VACANT MOBILE HOME, AND NUMEROUS TREES WERE SNAPPED AND UPROOTED. THE PATH LENGTH WAS FIVE MILES AND EXTENDED FROM 4 MILES WNW
01:23 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Wnw LickingTexas, MOSOCIAL MEDIA PICTURES OF UNOCCUPIED MOBILE HOME WITH SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE.
01:45 UTCTSTM WND DMGWillow SpringsHowell, MOLIMBS DOWN IN TOWN.
01:48 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 S SalemDent, MOA COUPLE TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN IN SALEM.
01:48 UTCTSTM WND DMGSalemDent, MOSOME ROOF DAMAGE AND POWER LINES DOWN.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2018 tornado in MissouriEvery tornado in Missouri since 1950Warnings in force in Missouri nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 13, 2018

22 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 134:04 PM CDTEF2Crawford, AR11.71,0004$600,000
April 135:46 PM CDTEF1Sebastian, AR5.6400$35,000
April 136:34 PM CDTEF1Ouachita Parish, LA1.7600$125,000
April 136:43 PM CDTEF1Union Parish, LA3.9950$1,000
April 136:48 PM CDTEF1Johnson, AR5.0250
April 137:04 PM CDTEF1Union Parish, LA0.4200
April 137:10 PM CDTEF2Howard, AR2.2350$100,000
April 137:13 PM CDTEF2Wright, MO9.0100$300,000
April 137:33 PM CDTEF2Caldwell Parish, LA4.1340$50,000
April 137:35 PM CDTEF1Wright, MO5.075$25,000
April 137:51 PM CDTEF0Montgomery, AR0.7100
April 138:00 PM CDTEF1Texas, MO1.450$20,000
April 138:45 PM CDTEF1Baxter, AR0.5150$10,000
April 139:00 PM CDTEF0Richland Parish, LA3.2400$25,000
April 139:13 PM CDTEF0Conway, AR0.2100
April 139:46 PM CDTEF1West Carroll Parish, LA1.9200$65,000
April 1310:13 PM CDTEF0White, AR0.180$2,000
April 1311:04 PM CDTEF1Gregg, TX4.3580$11,000
April 1311:50 PM CDTEF0Caddo Parish, TX to LA10.5100$6,000
April 1312:10 AM CDTEF1Caddo Parish, LA22.51,1001$7.0 million
April 1312:42 AM CDTEF0Bossier Parish, LA5.1300$50,000
April 1312:58 AM CDTEF1Webster Parish, LA2.9500$15,000

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.