Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2019
EF0 tornado, Cadet, Missouri, March 24, 2019
This EF0 tornado ran 0.0 miles across Washington County on March 24, 2019, touching down at 5:22 PM CDT and reaching 20 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.
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
- March 24, 2019
- Touchdown
- 5:22 PM CDT (22:22 UTC)
- Lifted
- 5:23 PM CDT (22:23 UTC)
- On the ground
- 1 minutes
- Path length
- 0.0 miles (0.0 km)
- Path width
- 20 yards (18 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Washington County
- Touchdown point
- 37.992, -90.710
- Lift-off point
- 37.992, -90.710
- Record number
- 1903241622-01
The damage survey
1 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LSX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 65 mph.
- A few branches were broken off at tree top in this location where law enforcement witnessed a tornado touchdown.
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
As a strong cold front moved through the region, severe storms developed mainly along and south of Interstate 70. There were numerous reports of large hail, as well as some wind damage and 3 tornadoes.
A few branches were broken off in this location where law enforcement witnessed a|brief tornado touchdown just southwest of the intersection of Highway E and Route 47. The tornado was rated EF0 with a max wind speed of 65 mph. The path length was 0.01 mile with a max path width of 20 yards. No deaths or injuries were reported.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The warnings
18 minutes of warning. NWS LSX issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:04 UTC, 18 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 22:45 UTC.
The county was under a severe thunderstorm watch, issued at 19:52 UTC and running to 03:00 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 19:52 UTC | 03:00 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | LSX |
| 21:25 UTC | 22:18 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX |
| 21:34 UTC | 22:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | LSX |
| 22:04 UTC | 22:45 UTC | Tornado Warning | LSX |
| 22:40 UTC | 23:30 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX |
| 23:18 UTC | 23:45 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX |
| 23:55 UTC | 00:32 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX |
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 20:00 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), 12:00Z
10.4 hours before the tornado, 299 km from the path. March 24, 2019.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -90417 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 592 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 46 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 35 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 469 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 407 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- -0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 4.6 K/km
Springfield, MO (KSGF), 00:00Z
1.6 hours after it, 299 km from the path. March 25, 2019.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 38 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -96 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 303 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1123 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 40 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 16 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 44 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 81 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 7.1 K/km
The radar
The St Louis radar (KLSX), 79 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:24 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21:15 UTC | HAIL 1 | 4 N Steelville | Crawford, MO | HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF QUARTERS. |
| 21:20 UTC | HAIL 0.25 | 4 E Leasburg | Crawford, MO | |
| 21:31 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 8 Sw Anthonies Mill | Crawford, MO | DELAYED REPORT. LOCATION AND TIME BOTH APPROXIMATE AND ESTIMATED FROM RADAR. PHOTOS POSTED TO SOCIAL MEDIA OF TREE DAMAGE, STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO A HOME, AND CAR DAMAGE NEAR THE TOWN OF BUTTS AND THE HUZZAH CREEK RECREATIO |
| 21:31 UTC | TORNADO | 8 Sse Leasburg | Crawford, MO | TORANDO RATED EF0. PATH LENGTH OF 5.75 MILES AND MAX PATH WIDTH AROUND 100 YARDS. THE TORNADO BEGAN ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF THE HUZZAH RIVER APPROXIMATELY 8 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF STEELVILLE WHERE A BARN WAS DAMAGED. THE T |
| 21:55 UTC | HAIL 0.25 | 1 Wsw House Springs | Jefferson, MO | GETTING A LOT OF MARBLE SIZE HAIL (1/2 INCH) CURRENTLY. |
| 22:04 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | 1 Wsw House Springs | Jefferson, MO | WIND HAS INCREASED TO 40 MPH. |
| 22:18 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | 2 S Old Mines | Washington, MO | FUNNEL CLOUD BETWEEN POTOSI AND OLD MINES, MOVING EAST. |
| 22:22 UTC | HAIL 1 | 1 Ne Steelville | Crawford, MO | FROM FACEBOOK POST WITH PICTURE. TIME ESTIMATED. |
| 22:22 UTC | TORNADO | 1 Wnw Cadet | Washington, MO | BRIEF TORNADO RATED EF0 - A FEW TREE BRANCHES WERE BROKEN OFF IN THIS LOCATION WHERE LAW ENFORCEMENT WITNESSED A BRIEF TORNADO TOUCHDOWN NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF HIGHWAY E AND ROUTE 47. |
| 22:24 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | 1 Wnw Cadet | Washington, MO | HAIL COVERS THE GROUND. |
| 22:25 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 4 Wnw Blackwell | Washington, MO | MPING REPORT. |
| 22:27 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | Cadet | Washington, MO | RELAYED THROUGH WASHINGTON COUNTY 911. |
| 22:27 UTC | TORNADO | 1 Wnw Cadet | Washington, MO | TORNADO BRIEFLY TOUCHED DOWN. TREE DAMAGE REPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT. CHECKING ON STRUCTURAL DAMAGE NOW. |
| 22:35 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 3 Se Blackwell | Jefferson, MO | LATE REPORT. |
| 22:47 UTC | HAIL 0.7 | Mapaville | Jefferson, MO | |
| 22:49 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 2 Sse Valles Mill | St. Francois, MO | 6 TO 12 INCH TREE LIMBS BLOWN DOWN. |
| 22:54 UTC | HAIL 0.25 | Pevely | Jefferson, MO | |
| 22:55 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 4 Ene Valles Mill | Jefferson, MO | |
| 23:00 UTC | HAIL 1.75 | 5 Ne French Village | Ste. Genevieve, MO | |
| 23:01 UTC | HAIL 1.25 | 2 Ese French Village | St. Francois, MO | CORRECTS TIME OF PREVIOUS HAIL REPORT FROM 2 ESE FRENCH VILLAGE. |
| 23:16 UTC | HAIL 1 | Bloomsdale | Ste. Genevieve, MO | |
| 23:20 UTC | HAIL 0.88 | Bloomsdale | Ste. Genevieve, MO | |
| 23:22 UTC | HAIL 1 | Potosi | Washington, MO | |
| 23:23 UTC | HAIL 1.5 | Potosi | Washington, MO | REPORT VIA FACEBOOK WITH PICTURE. |
| 23:25 UTC | HAIL 1.25 | 2 Ese French Village | St. Francois, MO | |
| 23:35 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | Bloomsdale | Ste. Genevieve, MO | |
| 23:57 UTC | FUNNEL CLOUD | 3 W Dillard | Crawford, MO | |
| 00:05 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | 1 Wnw Viburnum | Iron, MO | SEVERAL 40 FOOT TALL, ONE FOOT DIAMETER OAK TREES DOWNED 1/2 MILE NORTH OF TOWN ON HIGHWAY 49. |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2019 tornado in MissouriEvery tornado in Missouri since 1950Warnings in force in Missouri nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of March 24, 2019
3 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
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.