Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2024

EF0 tornado, Florence, Missouri, April 27, 2024

This EF0 tornado ran 3.5 miles across Morgan County on April 27, 2024, touching down at 10:29 PM CDT and reaching 50 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 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
April 27, 2024
Touchdown
10:29 PM CDT (03:29 UTC)
Lifted
10:36 PM CDT (03:36 UTC)
On the ground
7 minutes
Path length
3.5 miles (5.6 km)
Path width
50 yards (46 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
County
Morgan County
Touchdown point
38.540, -93.040
Lift-off point
38.580, -93.000
Record number
2404272129-01

The damage survey

3 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS LSX and 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

Thunderstorms produced yet additional heavy rainfall and flooding. A severe storm moved across Morgan County producing a brief EF-0 tornado. Additional wind damage occurred prior to the tornado in Vernon and Benton counties.

A NWS storm survey determined that an EF-0 tornado traveled along Ehlers and Butterfield Trail Road to just southwest of Florence uprooting multiple trees and damaging limbs. Along the tornadoes three and an half mile track it had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph with a width of 50 yards.

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

The warnings

6 minutes of warning. NWS SGF issued a tornado warning for this county at 03:23 UTC, 6 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 04:00 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 02:41 UTC and running to 09:00 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
00:00 UTC03:00 UTCFlood WatchSGF
02:41 UTC09:00 UTCTornado WatchSGF
03:23 UTC04:00 UTCTornado 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 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 01:02 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), 00:00Z

3.5 hours before the tornado, 197 km from the path. April 28, 2024.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2024-04-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 937 joules per kilogram, CIN -19, lifted condensation level 939 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 2024-04-28The 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 208 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 36 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
937 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-19 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2090 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
939 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
208 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
272 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.1
Supercell composite
10.5
0-3 km lapse rate
6.7 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 12:00Z

8.5 hours after it, 197 km from the path. April 28, 2024.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2024-04-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1 joules per kilogram, CIN -7, lifted condensation level 598 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 2024-04-28The 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 -163 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 67 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
1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Surface CAPE
95 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
598 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
67 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-163 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-123 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The radar

The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 112 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 03:29 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
02:17 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 N CalhounHenry, MODowned power lines and power outages near 950 Road. Time estimated from radar.
02:20 UTCTSTM WND DMG6 N LeetonJohnson, MODowned power lines and power outages near 251st Road. time estimated from radar.
03:05 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Wsw SedaliaPettis, MODowned power lines and power outages near Quisenberry Road. Time estimated from radar.
03:12 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Ssw Cole CampBenton, MODelayed Report. 5 trees uprooted, multiple trees snapped in half or with missing limbs.
03:17 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Wnw Cole CampBenton, MODelayed report. Report of an irrigation arm turned upside down and tree damage from the thunderstorms. Measured peak thunderstorm wind gust of 61 mph relayed from a coop observer.
03:29 UTCTORNADO5 Sw FlorenceMorgan, MOTrees were uprooted along Ehlers and Butterfield Trail Road to the southwest of Florence during a tornado Saturday evening. The tornado had max winds of 75 mph with a width of 50 yards.
03:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Ne WarsawBenton, MODelayed report. Report from mPING. 1-inch tree limbs broken, Shingles blown off. Time based on radar.
03:59 UTCTSTM WND DMGBuncetonCooper, MOScattered reports of power outages throughout Cooper County. Time estimated from radar.
03:59 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 N TiptonMoniteau, MOThree utility poles snapped just north of Tipton. Time estimated from radar.
03:59 UTCTORNADO2 Ene TiptonMoniteau, MOAn EF1 tornado formed shortly before 11pm on the 27th northeast of Tipton, MO along Alexander Rd, causing damage to both structures and trees before dissipating a minute later.
04:02 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Ene TiptonMoniteau, MOCorrects previous tstm wnd dmg report from 1 N Tipton. Three utility poles snapped just northeast of Tipton along Alexander Rd. Time estimated from radar.
04:02 UTCTSTM WND DMG3 Ene TiptonMoniteau, MOPhotos show a mobile home was rolled off of its foundation and crushed. Time estimated from radar.

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

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2024 tornado in MissouriEvery tornado in Missouri since 1950Warnings in force in Missouri nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of April 27, 2024

62 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 2710:11 AM CDTEF1Roger Mills, OK0.750$5,000
April 2710:18 AM CDTEF0Roger Mills, OK0.110
April 271:21 PM CDTEF1Garfield, OK0.8100$5,000
April 272:05 PM CDTUnratedBrown, KS3.925
April 272:15 PM CDTUnratedDoniphan, KS0.01
April 272:31 PM CDTEF0Nemaha, KS1.020
April 272:39 PM CDTEF1Kay, OK2.630$20,000
April 272:45 PM CDTEF0Nemaha, KS0.675
April 272:54 PM CDTEF1Kay, OK1.075$75,000
April 273:06 PM CDTEF2Knox, TX12.31,000$100,000
April 273:20 PM CDTEF0Payne, OK5.230$10,000
April 273:28 PM CDTEF2Cowley, KS1.3100
April 273:36 PM CDTEF1Cowley, KS0.620
April 274:08 PM CDTEF1Baylor, TX12.7300$100,000
April 274:10 PM CDTEF0Caddo, OK0.820
April 274:12 PM CDTEF1Gentry, MO11.6250
April 274:29 PM CDTEF1Canadian, OK6.8150$100,000
April 274:30 PM CDTEF1Elk, KS0.050
April 273:35 PM MDTEF0Hamilton, KS0.110
April 274:39 PM CDTEF1Elk, KS0.540
April 274:42 PM CDTUnratedElk, KS0.015
April 274:54 PM CDTUnratedElk, KS0.030
April 274:58 PM CDTEF0Grundy, MO4.075
April 275:15 PM CDTUnratedBaylor, TX0.620
April 275:35 PM CDTUnratedWilson, KS0.010
April 275:56 PM CDTUnratedWilson, KS0.010
April 276:11 PM CDTEF0Chautauqua, KS0.020
April 276:11 PM CDTEF0Chautauqua, KS0.010
April 276:23 PM CDTEF0Wichita, TX1.530
April 276:37 PM CDTUnratedLinn, MO0.15
April 276:43 PM CDTEF1Wichita, TX to OK6.5100$32,000
April 277:45 PM CDTUnratedMontgomery, KS0.020
April 277:55 PM CDTUnratedComanche, OK0.320
April 278:16 PM CDTUnratedOsage, OK0.175
April 278:23 PM CDTEF1Bates, MO2.5150
April 278:30 PM CDTEF1Bates, MO10.1250
April 278:45 PM CDTEF0Henry, MO2.4150
April 278:53 PM CDTEF1McClain, OK4.4225$44,000
April 279:12 PM CDTEF1McClain, OK0.540$2,000
April 279:16 PM CDTEF1Johnston, OK4.7150$50,000
April 279:17 PM CDTEF0McClain, OK1.740$2,000
April 279:20 PM CDTEF2McClain, OK4.9125$200,000
April 279:29 PM CDTEF1Cleveland, OK3.5200$100,000
April 279:42 PM CDTEF2Carter, OK11.340019$20 million
April 279:45 PM CDTEF1Oklahoma, OK8.5150$300,000
April 279:50 PM CDTUnratedWilson, KS0.010
April 2710:15 PM CDTEF1Pontotoc, OK1.530$10,000
April 2710:16 PM CDTEF1Lincoln, OK10.3250$30,000
April 2710:23 PM CDTEF3Sulphur tornado, OK9.9440130$10 million
April 2710:36 PM CDTEF3Holdenville tornado, OK27.91,76024$1.8 million
April 2710:37 PM CDTEF1Pontotoc, OK8.4500$250,000
April 2710:45 PM CDTEF0Carter, OK0.530
April 2710:59 PM CDTEF1Moniteau, MO1.730$200,000
April 2711:07 PM CDTEF1Murray, OK5.9250$200,000
April 2711:08 PM CDTEF4Marietta–Dickson–Baum tornado, OK26.890016$151 million
April 2711:21 PM CDTEF1Murray, OK3.5100$2,000
April 2712:01 AM CDTEF1Okmulgee, OK11.31,400$2.0 million
April 2712:14 AM CDTEF1Okmulgee, OK8.91,100$75,000
April 2712:22 AM CDTUnratedJohnston, OK1.1200
April 2712:28 AM CDTEF1Muskogee, OK6.2800

All 63 of them

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.