EF1 tornado, Ellsinore to Williamsville, Missouri, April 5, 2023

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.

Rating

EF1

Date

April 5, 2023

Touchdown

2:48 AM CDT (07:48 UTC)

Lifted

2:56 AM CDT (07:56 UTC)

On the ground

8 minutes

Path length

6.4 miles (10.2 km)

Path width

300 yards (274 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

Property damage

$210,000

Counties

Carter and Wayne counties

Touchdown point

36.954, -90.700

Lift-off point

37.000, -90.600

Record number

2304050148-01

9 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS PAH, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 110 mph.

• Width is narrower here than just west on Hwy 49.
• South edge of tornado track.
• North edge of tornado track
• Tree fell onto garage causing some roof damage

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

A cyclic supercell moved northeast from Arkansas, producing two tornadoes in southeast Missouri. Both tornadoes occurred in heavily forested areas. The second tornado struck a small community called Glenallen, located near Marble Hill in Bollinger County. Several fatalities were associated with this significant tornado. The supercell was the product of a favorable environment for tornadic storms. Moderate instability and strong deep-layer wind shear coincided over the region. Mixed-layer capes were between 1000 and 1500 j/kg in the presence of effective bulk shear around 55 knots. A surface low tracked from central Kansas into Iowa, resulting in a large unstable warm sector over Missouri and Illinois. Strong low-level south to southwest winds brought unseasonably warm late-night temperatures in the mid 70's and dew points in the 60's. The onset of storms was delayed by capping in the warm sector and pockets of dry low-level air. Wind fields strengthened throughout the night and capping weakened, leading to nocturnal supercell tornadoes.

This was the start of the tornado track as determined by an aerial survey from the USDA Forest Service. Trees were uprooted. Peak winds were estimated near 85 mph in this very short section of track in Carter County. The tornado quickly entered Wayne County in a highly forested area.

The tornado entered a heavily forested area of Wayne County after forming just over the county line in Carter County. The tornado produced a swath of tree destruction up to 300 yards wide. The tornado paralleled Highway A for about a mile or so. The only structural damage was observed where the tornado crossed Highway A. One garage suffered minor roof damage by a falling tree. The tornado caused shingle damage to a house located along Highway A. Where the tornado crossed Highway 49, the most intense tree damage was observed. This is where peak winds were estimated near 110 mph and where acres of trees were flattened. The tree damage swath became narrow and much less intense east of Highway 49 in hilly forested terrain.

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

18 minutes of warning. NWS PAH issued a tornado warning for this county at 07:30 UTC, 18 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 07:51 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 06:32 UTC and running to 13:44 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 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 05:52 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.

Popular Bluff (POF), 37 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

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

The Paducah radar (KPAH), 167 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 07:47 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 2023 tornado in MissouriEvery tornado in Missouri since 1950Warnings in force in Missouri nowThe forecast where you are

17 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.