Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2018

EF0 tornado, Lake Lotawana to Cockrell, Missouri, June 26, 2018

From Lake Lotawana to Cockrell, this EF0 tornado ran 3.4 miles across Jackson County on June 26, 2018, touching down at 1:09 PM CDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $150,000 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 mphthis tornado

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. EF186 to 110 mph

    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
EF0
Date
June 26, 2018
Touchdown
1:09 PM CDT (18:09 UTC)
Lifted
1:16 PM CDT (18:16 UTC)
On the ground
7 minutes
Path length
3.4 miles (5.5 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$150,000
County
Jackson County
Touchdown point
38.948, -94.308
Lift-off point
38.934, -94.248
Record number
1806261209-01

The damage survey

18 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS EAX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 80 mph.

  • begin south end of track 7

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

On the evening of June 26 a line of storms pushed through the Kansas City Metro area. As these storms exited the metro they produced a tornado that impacted the Lake Lotawana area. The extent of the damage was to trees, as well as to vehicles and lakeside docks and boats. No one was injured by the EF-0 tornado.

On the evening of June 26 a line of storms pushed through the Kansas City Metro area. As these storms exited the metro they produced a tornado that impacted the Lake Lotawana area. The extent of the damage was to trees, as well as to vehicles and lakeside docks and boats. No one was injured by the EF-0 tornado.

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 severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 17:35 UTC and running to 19:21 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
17:35 UTC19:21 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchEAX
18:01 UTC18:45 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAX
18:11 UTC18:30 UTCTornado WarningEAX

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 16:30 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.

Topeka, KS (KFOE), 12:00Z

6.2 hours before the tornado, 118 km from the path. June 26, 2018.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 2018-06-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 634 joules per kilogram, CIN -122, lifted condensation level 831 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, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 2018-06-26The 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 291 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 38 knots.193958Sfc1 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
634 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-122 J/kg
Surface CAPE
442 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
831 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
291 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
375 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.7
0-3 km lapse rate
4.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Topeka, KS (KFOE), 00:00Z

5.8 hours after it, 118 km from the path. June 27, 2018.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 2018-06-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 925 joules per kilogram, CIN -88, lifted condensation level 1662 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, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 2018-06-27The 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 37 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 39 knots.193958Sfc1 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
925 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-88 J/kg
Surface CAPE
1877 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1662 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
37 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
166 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
4.1
0-3 km lapse rate
6.6 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 15 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 18:09 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
18:04 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Nne GrandviewJackson, MOLARGE HEALTHY TREE LIMBS DOWN. REPORT VIA SOCIAL MEDIA.
18:06 UTCTSTM WND DMG7 Wsw RaytownJackson, MOLARGE HEALTHY TREES SPLIT. REPORT VIA SOCIAL MEDIA.
18:12 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 E Lee'S SummitJackson, MONUMEROUS TREE LIMBS DOWN UP TO 12 INCHES IN DIAMETER. REPORTED AT HIGHWAY 291 AND INDEPENDENCE AVENUE IN LEES SUMMIT MO.
18:12 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 E Unity VillageJackson, MOSEVERAL TREE LIMBS DOWN UP TO 12 INCHES IN DIAMETER. REPORTED AT HIGHWAY 291 AND INDEPENDENCE AVENUE IN LEES SUMMIT MO.
18:15 UTCTORNADO1 Nw Lake LotawanaJackson, MOLEES SUMMIT FD CHIEF REPORTS SIGNIFICANT ROOF DAMAGE TO SEVERAL HOMES IN G AN F BLOCKS AROUND LAKE LOTAWANA... ALONG WITH NUMEROUS REPORTS OF TREE DAMAGE. THIS DAMAGE IS DUE TO A POSSIBLE TORNADO.
18:17 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 N Pleasant HillCass, MO4 TO 6 INCH BRANCH SPLIT OUT OF HEALTHY HARDWOOD TREE. TIME ESTIMATED VIA RADAR.
18:18 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Nw Lake LotawanaJackson, MOREPORTED AT COBERN ROAD WEST OF HIGHWAY 7 LAKE LOTAWANA.
18:28 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 N PittsvilleJohnson, MODELAYED REPORT...SEVERAL LARGE TREES DOWN.
18:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Nne KingsvilleJohnson, MO6 INCH TREE LIMBS BROKEN FROM THUNDERSTORM WINDS.
18:47 UTCTSTM WND GST 60WarrensburgJohnson, MOMEASURED AT THE JOHNSON COUNTY EM OFFICE.
18:53 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 N WarrensburgJohnson, MOSEVERAL LARGE TREES UPROOTED AND DOWN NORTH OF WARRENSBURG.
18:55 UTCHAIL 1WarrensburgJohnson, MOAT UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL MISSOURI.
18:55 UTCHAIL 1WarrensburgJohnson, MO
18:57 UTCTSTM WND DMGWarrensburgJohnson, MOMULTIPLE REPORTS OF TREES AND BRANCHES DOWN ACROSS PORTIONS OF JOHNSON COUNTY MISSOURI, ALONG WITH POWER OUTAGES.
19:01 UTCHAIL 1.75WarrensburgJohnson, MO
19:05 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Ese HoldenJohnson, MOOUTBUILDING TOTALLY DESTROYED.
19:06 UTCTSTM WND DMGHoldenJohnson, MOLARGE TREE LIMBS 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 June 26, 2018

17 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 269:41 AM CDTEF0White, IL0.7100$20,000
June 2610:42 AM CDTEF0Grant, WI0.110
June 2611:30 AM CDTEF0Lafayette, WI0.540$1,000
June 261:44 PM EDTEF1Oldham, KY3.5150$550,000
June 262:24 PM CDTEF0Lafayette, WI1.847$15,000
June 263:26 PM CDTEF0Scotland, MO0.210
June 263:30 PM CDTEF1St. Clair, MO2.5200
June 265:28 PM CDTEF0Kane, IL0.020
June 266:39 PM CDTEF0Butler, KS1.9100
June 266:42 PM CDTEF0Butler, KS0.550
June 266:53 PM CDTEF0Will, IL0.125
June 266:54 PM CDTEF1Will, IL1.1100$30,000
June 267:18 PM CDTEF3Greenwood, KS9.25008$14 million
June 268:23 PM CDTEF0Henry, IL0.010
June 268:27 PM CDTEF1Champaign, IL3.975$37,000
June 268:53 PM CDTEF0Morton, ND0.150
June 269:02 PM CDTEF0Butler, KS0.550

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.