Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2024

EF0 tornado, Lowry City to Damascus, Missouri, May 6, 2024

From Lowry City to Damascus, this EF0 tornado ran 1.0 miles across St. Clair County on May 6, 2024, touching down at 12:21 AM CDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $5,000 of property damage.

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
May 6, 2024
Touchdown
12:21 AM CDT (05:21 UTC)
Lifted
12:25 AM CDT (05:25 UTC)
On the ground
4 minutes
Path length
1.0 miles (1.6 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$5,000
County
St. Clair County
Touchdown point
38.102, -93.742
Lift-off point
38.107, -93.725
Record number
2405062321-01

The damage survey

4 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS SGF, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF0. The highest wind the damage implies is 74 mph.

  • Trees lying east, west, north

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

A shortwave trough and an associated cold front pushed through the Missouri Ozarks during the late evening of May 6, 2024 and into the early morning hours of May 7, 2024. Thunderstorms developed along the front west of the Ozarks, quickly growing upscale to a linear storm mode by the time they reached southwest Missouri. This line of thunderstorms pushed through the area, causing widespread wind damage, flash flooding, and several tornadoes.

A NWS storm survey determined a short lived EF-0 tornado touched down in this location. Maximum winds of 70-75 mph caused trees to be down in multiple directions. The storm continued to produce non-tornadic wind damage as it moved east of Highway 13.

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

The warnings

8 minutes of warning. NWS SGF issued a tornado warning for this county at 05:13 UTC, 8 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 05:45 UTC.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 01:41 UTC and running to 07:03 UTC.

Issued (UTC)ExpiredProductOffice
01:41 UTC07:03 UTCTornado WatchSGF
04:36 UTC05:30 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGF
05:07 UTC06:00 UTCSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGF
05:13 UTC05:45 UTCTornado WarningSGF
05:32 UTC06:00 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 0.10 chance of a tornado within 25 miles. The outlook in force was issued at 00:50 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

5.4 hours before the tornado, 134 km from the path. May 7, 2024.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 2024-05-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 1078 joules per kilogram, CIN -12, lifted condensation level 884 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 2024-05-07The 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 179 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 33 knots.193958Sfc1 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
1078 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-12 J/kg
Surface CAPE
2504 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
884 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
179 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
302 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.3
Supercell composite
13.8
0-3 km lapse rate
6.1 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Springfield, MO (KSGF), 12:00Z

6.6 hours after it, 134 km from the path. May 7, 2024.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2024-05-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 160 joules per kilogram, CIN -110, lifted condensation level 728 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 12:00Z on 2024-05-07The 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 308 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 73 knots.1939587897117Sfc1 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
160 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-110 J/kg
Surface CAPE
9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
728 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
73 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
308 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
296 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3
0-3 km lapse rate
4.5 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Clinton (GLY), 28 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
03:35 UTC73.466.2140° 10 kt171001.7
03:55 UTC73.466.2140° 13 kt191001.4
04:15 UTC73.466.2140° 14 kt191000.7
04:35 UTC73.466.2140° 12 kt1000.3VCTS
04:55 UTC73.466.2150° 11 kt1000VCTS
05:15 UTC73.468160° 9 kt1000VCTS UP
05:35 UTC62.660.8290° 14 kt231002.4+TSRA BR
05:55 UTC60.860.8260° 6 kt1003+TSRA BR
06:15 UTC60.860.80° 0 kt1001.7VCTS RA BR
06:35 UTC60.860.8100° 11 kt999.3
06:55 UTC60.860.8130° 12 kt999
07:15 UTC60.860.8120° 9 kt15999.3

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

The radar

The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 91 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 05:19 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
04:22 UTCTSTM WND DMGButlerBates, MODelayed report from 5/6. Social media photo of tree damage in Butler. Time estimated from radar.
04:56 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 Se BlairstownHenry, MODowned wires and power outages near Routes N and O. Time estimated from radar.
05:12 UTCTSTM WND DMG2 Nw ClintonHenry, MODowned wires and power outages near Route 7. Time estimated from radar.
05:18 UTCTSTM WND DMGCollinsSt. Clair, MOlarge limb down on old hwy 13. time based on radar.
05:20 UTCTSTM WND DMG5 Sw Lowry CitySt. Clair, MODelayed report. Time based on radar. Two power poles down.
05:20 UTCTSTM WND DMGLowry CitySt. Clair, MODelayed report. Time based on radar. Large branches broken off tree.
05:25 UTCTSTM WND DMGBrowningtonHenry, MODelayed report from 5/7. Downed power lines and power outages in Brownington. Time estimated from radar.
05:28 UTCTSTM WND DMG4 E Lowry CitySt. Clair, MOPictures sent in of multiple trees uprooted and snapped with one outbuilding roof collapsed. Time estimated via radar.
05:28 UTCTORNADO2 S Lowry CitySt. Clair, MONWS Storm Survey finds a short lived tornado touched down in this location where trees were downed in multiple directions. Maximum winds were 70-75 mph in this EF-0 tornado. Note that the storm continued to produce non-t
05:30 UTCTSTM WND DMG1 Sse OsceolaSt. Clair, MOTree across Humansville Rd in Osceola. About 10-12 inches across at base. Time based on radar.
05:41 UTCTSTM WND DMG6 S Green RidgePettis, MODowned wires and power outages near Route 52. 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 May 6, 2024

40 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 612:49 PM MDTUnratedButte, SD3.510
May 61:53 PM CDTEF0Lincoln, NE0.910
May 61:07 PM MDTUnratedButte, SD10.510
May 62:55 PM CDTEF0Wilson, TN0.550$25,000
May 64:19 PM CDTEF0Webster, NE7.040$20,000
May 64:23 PM CDTEF1DeKalb, TN3.2150$300,000
May 66:04 PM CDTUnratedMajor, OK3.830
May 66:40 PM CDTUnratedCuster, NE0.11
May 66:41 PM CDTEF1Blaine, OK11.1300$40,000
May 67:07 PM CDTEF0Gage, NE1.030
May 67:16 PM CDTEF0Gage, NE0.220
May 67:27 PM CDTEF0Garfield, OK0.250
May 67:34 PM CDTEF0Garfield, OK0.230$5,000
May 67:39 PM CDTEF0Riley, KS1.275
May 67:44 PM CDTEF1Garfield, OK6.3300
May 68:44 PM CDTEF0Kay, OK0.730$50,000
May 68:48 PM CDTEF1Mills, IA5.7250
May 68:54 PM CDTEF1Kay, OK8.075$100,000
May 68:55 PM CDTUnratedChautauqua, KS0.010
May 69:07 PM CDTEF1Pottawattamie, IA1.5200
May 69:12 PM CDTEF4Barnsdall–Bartlesville tornado, OK40.81,700233$25 million
May 69:13 PM CDTEF1Pottawattamie, IA4.0450
May 69:22 PM CDTEF0Coffey, KS0.950
May 69:30 PM CDTEF0Coffey, KS0.950
May 610:56 PM CDTEF0Lincoln, OK2.250$5,000
May 610:59 PM CDTEF0Platte, MO6.050
May 611:00 PM CDTEF0Ottawa, OK to KS24.11,100$350,000
May 611:13 PM CDTEF0Cherokee, KS2.750$64,000
May 611:26 PM CDTEF1Jackson, MO5.850
May 611:29 PM CDTEF1Jasper, MO4.5100$160,000
May 611:38 PM CDTEF1Jasper, MO2.0100$50,000
May 611:39 PM CDTEF1Oklahoma, OK2.275$300,000
May 611:39 PM CDTEF0Jackson, MO4.450
May 611:46 PM CDTEF1Oklahoma, OK1.130$50,000
May 612:06 AM CDTEF1Okmulgee, OK4.0350
May 612:12 AM CDTEF0Dade, MO0.4200$10,000
May 612:33 AM CDTEF0Greene, MO18.71501$73,000
May 612:38 AM CDTEF1Clarke, IA6.280$250,000
May 612:51 AM CDTEF1Pettis, MO9.775
May 612:53 AM CDTEF0Clarke, IA2.080$100,000

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.