EF3 Coffman tornado, Missouri, October 24, 2021

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 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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

EF3

Date

October 24, 2021

Touchdown

8:47 PM CDT (01:47 UTC)

Lifted

9:15 PM CDT (02:15 UTC)

On the ground

28 minutes

Path length

18.8 miles (30.3 km)

Path width

880 yards (805 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

1

Property damage

$200,000

Counties

Madison and Perry counties

Touchdown point

37.542, -90.392

Lift-off point

37.651, -90.077

Record number

2110241947-01

164 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LSX and NWS PAH, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF3. The highest wind the damage implies is 150 mph.

• No hurricane clips on roof
• Truck lifter on top of car
• Long stretch of several trees topped/snapped
• Track parallels Route F. Numerous trees snapped or uprooted and 16 power poles down around 3/4 miles to the west.

Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.

Numerous severe thunderstorms formed ahead of an approaching cold front across southeast Missouri during the evening hours of Sunday, October 24th, 2021. As the storms moved northeastward, they moved into a moist, energy-rich environment with substantial wind shear in the low and mid-levels. They quickly intensified, remaining somewhat isolated as they moved through southeast Missouri and into southwest Illinois. The environment was very favorable for tornadic development, and these storms produced several tornadoes and wind damage as they moved through the area. Two storms produced tornadoes that remained on the ground for significant distances. The tornado that moved through Fredericktown, MO, passing through Madison County into Perry County, was on the ground for 18.9 miles. Another tornado moved from St. Francois County through St. Genevieve County in Missouri into Randolph County in Illinois, staying on the ground for over 40 miles.

The severe weather episode began as a series of supercells and transitioned to a squall line. A supercell thunderstorm produced a strong long-track tornado across southeast Missouri that ended in southwest Perry County. A short EF-1 tornado associated with a squall line struck southern Perry County shortly thereafter. A longer track EF-1 tornado also impacted eastern Wayne County into southern Bollinger County. The storms preceded a strong cold front that trailed south-southwest from a low pressure center over west central Illinois. Dew points ahead of the front were in the lower to mid 60's. Instability was strong enough to support severe storms, given that wind shear was quite strong. Mixed-layer capes were around 1000 j/kg.

The tornado crossed from Iron into Madison County, about 4.8 miles WSW of Braddy Ford, and continued moving to the northeast. The damage in western Madison County was extensive tree damage as seen on high resolution USGS satellite imagery. Shortly after lifting, around 1.7 miles north northeast of Braddy Ford, the storm that produced this tornado went on to produce the Fredericktown tornado. This portion of the tornado track is rated EFU because it was surveyed from satellite images. The path length is 5.93 miles with a max path width of 50 yards. Overall, the entire tornado (Iron/Madison Counties) was rated EF1 with a path length of 10.23 miles and a max path width of 250 yards. No deaths or injuries.

The tornado touched down near the St. Francis River approximately 5.5 miles to the WSW of Fredericktown, MO, where it topped or snapped the trunks of several trees. The tornado continued to the northeast along the river and began impacting homes as it approached Fredericktown. Here the tornado ripped half of the roof off of one home, rolled a manufactured home onto its side, pulled roofing material from another home, and continued to cause considerable tree damage. The tornado widened to about 1/2 mile as it approached MO Highway 72 from the southwest, damaging multiple homes and businesses. A business on the south side of Highway 72 is where the only known injury took place, where an individual was hurt climbing out of the debris after the tornado had exited the area. The tornado strengthened as it moved north of Highway 72, completely destroying a number of homes. It was determined that the frames of these homes were largely only toe-nailed into their foundation, which precluded a higher rating than a low-end EF-3. The tornado then impacted the Black River Electric Co-op. Here the tornado ripped a well-built canopy from between two small warehouses, completely destroyed one of these small warehouses, and then completely destroyed a larger steel warehouse attached to the main office. The steel warehouse was very well constructed, with steel I-beams approximately 1 foot in width, bolted into the concrete foundation roughly every 20 feet. These beams spanned the roof of the structure and supported a thick, crimped sheet metal exterior. This is believed to be where the tornado reached peak intensity, with approximately 150 mph winds. The attached office fared notably better, sustaining mainly roof damage and the loss of several windows. The office was very well constructed, consisting of brick and concrete walls. The tornado then crossed US highway 67 and continued to cause considerable damage. Two newly built self-storage buildings with north facing bay doors were completely destroyed, while a third identical building with south facing doors was damaged, but remained standing. Two more homes were also impacted in this area. The roof was completely ripped from one of these homes, though most of the walls, which were bolted into the concrete foundation, were left standing. Only a few interior walls remained on the second home, though it appeared that the frame of this home was only toe-nailed into the foundation. The poor construction of the second home, and the lack of hurricane clips on the roof of the first, precluded a higher rating than EF-2 in this area. As the tornado continued northeast, it moved through additional residential areas, damaging several more homes and businesses. The tornado may have begun to weaken somewhat at this point, as the walls largely remained standing on most of these buildings. The tornado then began to move into more rural areas to the northeast of Fredericktown, where it caused consistent tree damage for several more miles, ripped most of the roof from one home, and completely destroyed a barn. The tornado may have briefly lifted as it moved into northeastern Madison County before coming back down and causing considerable tree damage along Madison county road 252. Along the Madison/Perry county line, where it moved into WFO Paducah's County Warning Area, the width was about 1/2 of a mile wide with numerous trees snapped and uprooted. The portion of the tornado path in Madison County was rated EF3 overall with a path length of 14.83 miles and a max path width of 880 yards. There was one injury and no deaths in Madison County. Overall, the tornado (Madison/Perry Counties) was rated EF3 with a path length of 18.95 miles and a max path width of 880 yards. There was one injury and no deaths with this tornado.

This long-track tornado crossed into southwest Perry County from Madison County. Along the Madison/Perry county line, the width was about half of a mile wide, with numerous trees snapped and uprooted. The tornado then moved nearly parallel to County Road 738. Here several houses and a hunting lodge sustained minor damage, mainly to roofs and posts of a porch. One barn and a small shed were destroyed, along with numerous uprooted and snapped trees. The tornado continued on to produce tree damage on Highway 730, where it was only a few hundred yards wide and dissipated shortly thereafter. Peak winds in the Perry County portion of the path were near 112 mph, putting it barely into the EF-2 category. However, the tornado peaked at EF-3 intensity earlier in its life cycle.

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

37 minutes of warning. NWS LSX issued a tornado warning for this county at 01:10 UTC, 37 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 02:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 22:46 UTC and running to 04:36 UTC.

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 Storm Prediction Center had this point in a Enhanced 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 00:57 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 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.

Farmington (FAM), 25 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 129 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 01:49 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.

Local storm reports within 60 km of the path, in the three hours either side.

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

The live radar over the trackEvery 2021 tornado in MissouriEvery tornado in Missouri since 1950Warnings in force in Missouri nowThe forecast where you are

16 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

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.

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.