Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2024
EF0 tornado, Vulcan to Brunot, Missouri, May 8, 2024
From Vulcan to Brunot, this EF0 tornado ran 0.6 miles across Iron County on May 8, 2024, touching down at 8:50 PM CDT and reaching 75 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.
EF065 to 85 mphthis tornado
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
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.
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.
EF4166 to 200 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
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.
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 8, 2024
- Touchdown
- 8:50 PM CDT (01:50 UTC)
- Lifted
- 8:51 PM CDT (01:51 UTC)
- On the ground
- 1 minutes
- Path length
- 0.6 miles (0.9 km)
- Path width
- 75 yards (69 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Iron County
- Touchdown point
- 37.347, -90.669
- Lift-off point
- 37.349, -90.659
- Record number
- 2405081950-01
The damage survey
36 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.
What the Weather Service recorded
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.
From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.
The forecast that day
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.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS St. Louis, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the tornado touched down at May 8, 6:33 PM CDT, 2 hours 17 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
- Scattered strong to severe thunderstorms will persist through early this evening. All hazards are expected: large hail, damaging winds, isolated tornadoes, as well as flash flooding.
- A period of much needed calmer weather and cooler temperatures is expected to end the week and continue through the weekend.
Area forecast discussion, May 8, 6:33 PM CDT, 2 hours 17 minutes before
Area Forecast Discussion...Updated Aviation
National Weather Service Saint Louis MO
633 PM CDT Wed May 8 2024
.KEY MESSAGES...
- Scattered strong to severe thunderstorms will persist through
early this evening. All hazards are expected: large hail,
damaging winds, isolated tornadoes, as well as flash flooding.
- A period of much needed calmer weather and cooler temperatures is
expected to end the week and continue through the weekend.
&&
.SHORT TERM... (Through Late Thursday Night)
Issued at 344 PM CDT Wed May 8 2024
(Late This Afternoon Through Tonight)
As of 3 pm, outflow from the activity continues to sink south and
extends from just north of Springfield, MO to just south of
Carbondale, IL. The warm sector along and south of the boundary
remains quite unstable with MU CAPEs in excess of 3000 J/kg, ML
lapse rates of 7-8C/km and 0-6km bulk shear 50-60kts. Also, the
ongoing activity, over far southeastern sections of CWA, has
congealed into a line with embedded supercells, while further west,
in NWS Springfield's area, discrete supercells are forming along
the outflow boundary. These storms will slide east northeast
moving into the southern portions of the CWA by 21z. Therefore,
there remains a tornado threat as well as large hail possible.
North of the outflow boundary, could see scattered strong to
severe storms with the main threat being large hail.
Otherwise, as the surface low over NE OK lifts northeastward it will
drag a cold front eastward through the forecast area, with the
precipitation tapering off from west to east. The front will exit
the region by 05z Thursday.
Still some concern for isolated flash flooding as some storms may
train over the area, especially south of I-70. So will not make any
adjustments to the Flash Flood watch at this time.
Lows tonight will be in the low 50s to low 60s.
(Thursday through Thursday Night)
On Thursday, a secondary shortwave/cold front on the backside of the
system will slide southeast through the region. So expect increasing
clouds, especially north of I-70. Otherwise, there will be enough
moisture and weak instability to generate scattered showers and a
few thunderstorms over portions of northeast Missouri and west
central Illinois late morning through early evening. Otherwise,
highs on Thursday will be near normal in the upper 60s to upper 70s.
Lows Thursday night will be in the upper 40s to low 50s.
Byrd
&&
.LONG TERM... (Friday through Next Wednesday)
Issued at 344 PM CDT Wed May 8 2024
Cooler and drier weather through the rest of the work week and
into the weekend. Beyond that, upper level trough over the western
CONUS will begin to lift out towards the region with chances of
showers and storms late on Sunday through mid week. Still a lot of
timing, strength and location differences among the ensembles and
deterministic models, so stuck with the latest NBM solution.
Temperatures will moderate through the period with highs in the
mid 70s to low 80s.
Byrd
&&
.AVIATION... (For the 00z TAFs through 00z Thursday Evening)
Issued at 631 PM CDT Wed May 8 2024
Main area of showers and storms have exited TAF sites, though some
isolated activity still possible. Kept vicinity thunderstorm
mention at KUIN and St. Louis metro TAF sites through 03z-04z
Thursday, while better chances at KCOU and KJEF so added tempo
mention from 00z to 01z. Otherwise, cold front will move through
this evening with south winds veering to the west to northwest.
Will see gusts up to 25kts at times Thursday afternoon.
Still expecting some wrap around SC deck on back side of system
with some scattered showers possible Thursday afternoon,
especially at KUIN, so kept MVFR ceilings from 04z Thursday
through remainder of forecast period. Could see the MVFR ceilings
as far south as St. Louis metro area between 09z and 12z Thursday.
Byrd
&&
.LSX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MO...Flood Watch until midnight CDT tonight for Cole MO-Crawford MO-
Franklin MO-Gasconade MO-Iron MO-Jefferson MO-Madison MO-
Moniteau MO-Osage MO-Reynolds MO-Saint Francois MO-Saint
Louis City MO-Saint Louis MO-Sainte Genevieve MO-Washington
MO.
IL...Flood Watch until midnight CDT tonight for Monroe IL-Randolph IL-
Saint Clair IL.
&&
WFO LSXHazardous weather outlook, May 8, 3:58 PM CDT, 4 hours 52 minutes before
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service St Louis MO 358 PM CDT Wed May 8 2024 ILZ058>060-064-065-069-070-074-079-095>102-MOZ018-019-026-027- 034>036-041-042-047>052-059>065-072>075-084-085-099-092100- Greene IL-Macoupin IL-Montgomery IL-Bond IL-Fayette IL-Clinton IL- Marion IL-Washington IL-Randolph IL-Adams IL-Brown IL-Pike IL- Calhoun IL-Jersey IL-Madison IL-Saint Clair IL-Monroe IL-Knox MO- Lewis MO-Shelby MO-Marion MO-Monroe MO-Ralls MO-Pike MO-Boone MO- Audrain MO-Moniteau MO-Cole MO-Osage MO-Callaway MO-Montgomery MO- Lincoln MO-Gasconade MO-Warren MO-Saint Charles MO-Franklin MO- Saint Louis MO-Saint Louis City MO-Jefferson MO-Crawford MO- Washington MO-Saint Francois MO-Sainte Genevieve MO-Iron MO- Madison MO-Reynolds MO- 358 PM CDT Wed May 8 2024 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of eastern and central Missouri as well as west central and southwest Illinois. .DAY ONE...Tonight. Scattered strong to severe thunderstorms are expected through early this evening. All severe weather hazards are possible including large hail, damaging winds, and a few tornadoes. Training thunderstorms will be capable of producing locally heavy rainfall and flash flooding. A Flood Watch has been issued for portions of southeastern Missouri and southwestern Illinois. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday. There is a chance of thunderstorms for parts of the area from late Sunday through Tuesday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotters are encouraged to report occurrences of large hail, wind damage and tornadoes to NWS St. Louis. Byrd
In the hours before
Local storm report, May 8, 7:11 PM CDT, 1 hour 39 minutes before
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</html>Local storm report, May 8, 7:21 PM CDT, 1 hour 29 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service St Louis MO
721 PM CDT Wed May 8 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0658 PM Tstm Wnd Dmg Hoyleton 38.44N 89.27W
05/08/2024 Washington IL Emergency Mngr
Power lines knocked over in town. Fire chief
reports trees down and entire town without
power.
&&
LSJLocal storm report, May 8, 7:34 PM CDT, 1 hour 16 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service St Louis MO
734 PM CDT Wed May 8 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0732 PM Flood 1 WSW Salem 38.62N 88.98W
05/08/2024 Marion IL Emergency Mngr
About 1 ft of water at S Hotze and RR
tracks. This is a low lying area. West Main
St through town has water over curbs in
numerous places.
&&
LSJLocal storm report, May 8, 7:41 PM CDT, 1 hour 9 minutes before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service St Louis MO
741 PM CDT Wed May 8 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0605 PM Tstm Wnd Dmg Bloomsdale 38.01N 90.21W
05/08/2024 Ste. Genevieve MO Broadcast Media
Large trees down in Bloomsdale. One tree is
on a house.
&&
LSJLocal storm report, May 8, 7:50 PM CDT, 1 hour before
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service St Louis MO
750 PM CDT Wed May 8 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0713 PM Tstm Wnd Dmg Kell 38.49N 88.91W
05/08/2024 Marion IL Emergency Mngr
Power pole over roadway with energized
lines.
&&
LSJThe 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
1.8 hours before the tornado, 282 km from the path. May 9, 2024.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 112 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -224 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 264 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1268 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 66 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 11 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 42 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 128 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.2 K/km
Springfield, MO (KSGF), 12:00Z
10.2 hours after it, 282 km from the path. May 9, 2024.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -97352 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2194 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 56 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 13 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 49 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 149 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 3.6 K/km
The surface observations
Farmington (FAM), 50 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 00:00 UTC |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The St Louis radar (KLSX), 150 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.
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 8, 2024
52 more were confirmed in the United States that day.
| Date | Time | Rating | Where | Path (mi) | Width (yd) | Deaths | Injuries | Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 8 | 3:09 AM EDT | EF1 | Westmoreland, PA | 1.1 | 200 | $100,000 | ||
| May 8 | 10:58 AM CDT | EF0 | Cape Girardeau, MO | 0.2 | 50 | $10,000 | ||
| May 8 | 11:04 AM CDT | EF1 | Crawford, MO | 2.2 | 75 | |||
| May 8 | 12:01 PM CDT | EF1 | Jackson, IL | 1.3 | 100 | 1 | $75,000 | |
| May 8 | 12:53 PM MDT | Unrated | Wallace, KS | 0.1 | 50 | |||
| May 8 | 3:00 PM EDT | EF1 | Cleveland, NC | 21.3 | 100 | |||
| May 8 | 2:10 PM CDT | Unrated | Ottawa, OK | 0.1 | 75 | |||
| May 8 | 2:12 PM CDT | Unrated | Ottawa, OK | 0.1 | 75 | |||
| May 8 | 2:15 PM CDT | EF1 | Ottawa, OK | 4.0 | 450 | $50,000 | ||
| May 8 | 3:40 PM EDT | EF1 | Gaston, NC | 8.2 | 60 | 2 | $200,000 | |
| May 8 | 2:43 PM CDT | EF1 | Robertson, TN | 2.2 | 400 | $250,000 | ||
| May 8 | 2:51 PM CDT | EF1 | Ottawa, OK | 0.3 | 60 | $30,000 | ||
| May 8 | 3:10 PM CDT | EF1 | Jackson, IL | 4.6 | 75 | $12,000 | ||
| May 8 | 4:01 PM CDT | Unrated | McCracken, KY | 0.2 | 50 | |||
| May 8 | 4:04 PM CDT | EF0 | Williamson, IL | 6.6 | 25 | $10,000 | ||
| May 8 | 4:11 PM CDT | EF1 | Saline, IL | 7.7 | 150 | $80,000 | ||
| May 8 | 4:25 PM CDT | EF1 | Lawrence, MO | 10.8 | 150 | $155,000 | ||
| May 8 | 5:37 PM CDT | EF3 | Columbia tornado, TN | 11.5 | 900 | 1 | 12 | $10 million |
| May 8 | 6:32 PM CDT | EF0 | Rutherford, TN | 3.0 | 100 | $100,000 | ||
| May 8 | 7:40 PM CDT | EF0 | Lamar, TX | 0.0 | 30 | |||
| May 8 | 7:50 PM CDT | EF2 | Giles, TN | 5.9 | 600 | 1 | $4.0 million | |
| May 8 | 8:11 PM CDT | EF1 | Limestone, AL | 4.8 | 90 | |||
| May 8 | 8:15 PM CDT | EF1 | Lincoln, TN | 6.2 | 160 | |||
| May 8 | 8:23 PM CDT | EF3 | Limestone, AL | 3.8 | 228 | |||
| May 8 | 8:27 PM CDT | EF0 | Lamar, TX | 0.3 | 30 | $2,000 | ||
| May 8 | 8:44 PM CDT | EF1 | Reynolds, MO | 14.1 | 150 | $10,000 | ||
| May 8 | 8:45 PM CDT | EF1 | Limestone, AL | 3.5 | 225 | |||
| May 8 | 8:49 PM CDT | EF1 | Iron, MO | 2.6 | 250 | |||
| May 8 | 8:53 PM CDT | EF1 | Iron, MO | 1.7 | 150 | |||
| May 8 | 9:01 PM CDT | EF1 | Iron, MO | 4.1 | 100 | |||
| May 8 | 9:01 PM CDT | EF1 | Iron, MO | 12.0 | 150 | |||
| May 8 | 9:02 PM CDT | EF1 | Lincoln, TN | 1.4 | 286 | |||
| May 8 | 9:06 PM CDT | EF0 | Madison, MO | 4.3 | 334 | $50,000 | ||
| May 8 | 9:07 PM CDT | EF0 | Madison, AL | 1.7 | 95 | |||
| May 8 | 9:28 PM CDT | EF2 | Madison, AL | 9.5 | 550 | |||
| May 8 | 9:39 PM CDT | EF0 | Daviess, KY | 2.7 | 50 | $55,000 | ||
| May 8 | 9:41 PM CDT | EF0 | Daviess, KY | 3.1 | 300 | $45,000 | ||
| May 8 | 9:49 PM CDT | EF1 | Daviess, KY | 0.9 | 100 | $30,000 | ||
| May 8 | 10:13 PM CDT | EF0 | Jackson, AL | 2.3 | 106 | $53,000 | ||
| May 8 | 11:26 PM EDT | EF1 | Gilmer, GA | 0.8 | 200 | |||
| May 8 | 10:32 PM CDT | EF0 | Madison, AL | 3.5 | 145 | |||
| May 8 | 10:34 PM CDT | EF0 | Jackson, AL | 2.1 | 200 | $1.4 million | ||
| May 8 | 10:40 PM CDT | EF1 | Madison, AL | 4.3 | 200 | |||
| May 8 | 11:41 PM EDT | EF1 | Cherokee, NC | 2.3 | 40 | |||
| May 8 | 11:42 PM EDT | EF1 | Gilmer, GA | 0.6 | 150 | |||
| May 8 | 11:46 PM EDT | EF0 | Gilmer, GA | 1.0 | 250 | |||
| May 8 | 11:51 PM EDT | EF0 | Gilmer, GA | 1.9 | 200 | |||
| May 8 | 10:57 PM CDT | EF3 | Jackson, AL | 12.3 | 880 | 7 | $4.5 million | |
| May 8 | 12:14 AM EDT | EF1 | Jackson, NC | 9.4 | 400 | |||
| May 8 | 12:16 AM EDT | EF0 | Buncombe, NC | 2.3 | 30 | $100,000 | ||
| May 8 | 12:23 AM EDT | EF1 | Jackson, NC | 1.5 | 200 | |||
| May 8 | 12:02 AM CDT | EF1 | DeKalb, AL | 2.0 | 100 |
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.