EF1 tornado, Vulcan to Ironton, Missouri, May 8, 2024

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

May 8, 2024

Touchdown

8:49 PM CDT (01:49 UTC)

Lifted

8:51 PM CDT (01:51 UTC)

On the ground

2 minutes

Path length

2.6 miles (4.1 km)

Path width

250 yards (229 m)

Deaths

0

Injuries

0

County

Iron County

Touchdown point

37.360, -90.706

Lift-off point

37.367, -90.663

Record number

2405081949-01

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

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

The bi-state region was threatened with severe thunderstorms on May 8th. Numerous supercells produced very large hail most of the day, and a small QLCS produced multiple tornadoes in southeast Missouri.

The tornado continued to track northeast along County Road 149. It snapped off or uprooted numerous trees. Also, a house sustained minor shingle damage to it���s roof. Then the tornado shifted it���s track a bit more easterly eventually crossing County Road 147, then Highway 49 around three quarters of a mile north of Vulcan. As it crossed Highway F, 3.5 miles northeast of Vulcan, it uprooted several large trees. Then the tornado track shifted back to a northeasterly direction, crossing County Road 135, about 6 miles northeast of Vulcan, where it uprooted or snapped off several more large trees. Then the tornado crossed into southern Madison County. In Iron County, the path length was 12.05 miles with a max path width of 150 yards with a rating of EF1.

A tornado touched down on the west side of Annapolis, just west of County Road 142. As it crossed County Road 142, it uprooted a large tree. It tracked to the east northeast through town. As it approached Tabitha Street it took most of the roof off of a manufactured home just across the street from South Iron High School and South Iron Elementary School. It caused damage to the elementary school with a large section of roof lifted off, several walls blow over, and numerous windows broken. The tornado then crossed Highway 49 with a number of trees either uprooted or snapped off as it tracked to the east northeast. As it approached Highway C, more trees were uprooted before the tornado lifted and dissipated almost 2 miles east northeast of Annapolis. Overall, the tornado was rated EF1 with a path length of 2.56 miles and a max path width of 250 yards. No deaths or injuries were reported.

A tornado touched down 1.8 miles southeast of Annapolis, between Highway 49 and Highway F. As it tracked to the east northeast it uprooted or snapped off several large trees before crossing Highway F, then lifted and dissipated. Overall, the tornado was rated EF0 with a path length of 0.59 miles and a max path width of 75 yards. No deaths or injuries were reported.

A tornado touched down around 4.5 miles east northeast of Vulcan and tracked to the northeast. As it crossed Highway F it uprooted several large trees. Then as it approached County Road 135 it uprooted or snapped off several more large trees before lifting and dissipating. Overall, the tornado was rated EF1 with a path length of 1.67 miles and a max path width of 150 yards. No deaths or injuries were reported.

A tornado touched down in the southwestern portion of Arcadia, near the intersection of W. Maple Street and S. Main Street. As it tracked to the east it uprooted or snapped off several large trees as it crossed Highway 21 and tracked along Highway 72. It eventually moved northeast, skirting the south shore of Lake Killarney snapping off more trees before lifting and dissipating near Ozark Drive. Overall, the tornado was rated EF1 with a path length of 4.08 miles and a max path width of 100 yards. No deaths or injuries were reported.

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

No tornado warning for this county appears in the archive as in force at the moment the tornado touched down. One was issued for the county at another hour that day.

The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 21:42 UTC and running to 02:43 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 Moderate 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 01:42 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), 50 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), 148 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 2024 tornado in MissouriEvery tornado in Missouri since 1950Warnings in force in Missouri nowThe forecast where you are

52 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.