Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2018

EF1 tornado, Chalk Level, Missouri, June 26, 2018

This EF1 tornado ran 2.5 miles across St. Clair County on June 26, 2018, touching down at 3:30 PM CDT and reaching 200 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.

  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
June 26, 2018
Touchdown
3:30 PM CDT (20:30 UTC)
Lifted
3:35 PM CDT (20:35 UTC)
On the ground
5 minutes
Path length
2.5 miles (4.0 km)
Path width
200 yards (183 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
St. Clair County
Touchdown point
38.065, -93.822
Lift-off point
38.080, -93.780
Record number
1806261430-01

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 100 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

Severe thunderstorms produced widespread wind damage across southeastern Kansas the Missouri Ozarks.

A National Weather Service storm survey revealed that an EF-1 tornado touched down 5 miles west of Osceola and tracked east 2.4 miles for around 5 minutes before lifting 3 miles north northwest of Osceola. The maximum path width was 200 yards.

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.

The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 17:37 UTC and running to 22:07 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
17:37 UTC22:07 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WatchSGF
20:10 UTC21:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGF
20:37 UTC21:04 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGF
00:45 UTC01:17 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGF
02:49 UTC08:45 UTCFlood AdvisorySGF
03:23 UTC04:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGF

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 Enhanced Risk, with a 0.02 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 19:43 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

8.5 hours before the tornado, 130 km from the path. June 26, 2018.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO 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 710 joules per kilogram, CIN -59, lifted condensation level 702 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 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 2018-06-26The 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 326 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 57 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 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
710 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-59 J/kg
Surface CAPE
188 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
702 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
326 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
289 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.1
Supercell composite
6.7
0-3 km lapse rate
4.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 00:00Z

3.5 hours after it, 130 km from the path. June 27, 2018.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO 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 17 joules per kilogram, CIN -456, lifted condensation level 2334 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 2018-06-27The 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 202 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 29 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
17 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-456 J/kg
Surface CAPE
122 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2334 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
202 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
337 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1
0-3 km lapse rate
4.0 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 91 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 20:30 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
20:15 UTCTSTM WND DMGWalkerVernon, MOPOWER LINE HALF LAID OVER LOCATED NORTH OF WALKER. BIG CEDAR TREE BLOWN OVER IN THE FAIRHAVEN AREA. TIME ESTIMATED BASED ON RADAR. DELAYED REPORT.
20:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Ne OsceolaSt. Clair, MOLARGE TREES AND POWER LINES SNAPPED ABOUT 0.5 MI N OF THE DOWNTOWN SQUARE.
20:30 UTCTORNADO5 Nw OsceolaSt. Clair, MOA NWS STORM SURVEY REVEALED THAT AN EF-1 TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN 5 MILES WEST OF OSCEOLA AND TRACKED EAST 2.4 MILES FOR AROUND 5 MINUTES BEFORE LIFTING 3 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF OSCEOLA . MAXIMUM PATH WIDTH WAS 200 YARDS.
20:50 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Ene WhitakervilleBenton, MODELAYED REPORT. LARGE TREE UPROOTED AND OTHER TREES SNAPPED. TIME ESTIMATED VIA RADAR. THE LOCATION IS SOUTH OF WARSAW ON BARCLAY LOOP NEAR GATLIFF LAKE.
20:50 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 W WhitakervilleBenton, MODELAYED REPORT: TREES UPROOTED AND SEVERAL LIMBS DOWN ON COLD SPRINGS ROAD. TIME ESTIMATED VIA RADAR.
20:50 UTCTSTM WND DMGHumansvillePolk, MOTREE BLOWN DOWN ON MAYOR'S HOUSE.
20:52 UTCTSTM WND DMGCollinsSt. Clair, MOLARGE LIMBS GREATER THAN 6 INCHES BROKE OFF A TREE. COLLINS AREA. VIA SOCIAL MEDIA PICTURE. DELAYED REPORT.
20:55 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Ese WhitakervilleBenton, MODELAYED REPORT PROCOM TOWER BLOWN OVER ON WILDCAT DRIVE.

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 261:09 PM CDTEF0Jackson, MO3.4100$150,000
June 262:24 PM CDTEF0Lafayette, WI1.847$15,000
June 263:26 PM CDTEF0Scotland, MO0.210
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.