Tornadoes · United States · Missouri · 2026
EF1 tornado, Henry County, Missouri, April 15, 2026
This EF1 tornado ran 2.5 miles across Henry County on April 15, 2026, touching down at 6:03 PM CDT and reaching 75 yards wide. It killed nobody.
Preliminary. This is NWS EAX's damage survey, filed in the Damage Assessment Toolkit as Clinton 01. The rating, the path and the casualties are the survey's and can change while it is revised. The Storm Prediction Center compiles the official record of 2026 from these surveys and publishes it in the spring of 2027; this page moves to that tornado's permanent address when it does.
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 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
EF186 to 110 mphthis tornado
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 survey
- Rating, as surveyed
- EF1, preliminary
- Date
- April 15, 2026
- Touchdown
- 6:03 PM CDT (23:03 UTC)
- Lifted
- 6:07 PM CDT (23:07 UTC)
- On the ground
- 4 minutes
- Path length
- 2.5 miles (4.0 km)
- Path width
- 75 yards (69 m)
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- County
- Henry County
- Touchdown point
- 38.337, -93.791
- Lift-off point
- 38.365, -93.763
- Highest wind the damage implies
- 98 mph
- Surveyed by
- NWS EAX
- The office's name for it
- Clinton 01
- Survey last edited
- April 23, 2026
- Record number
- None yet. SPC numbers 2026 in the spring of 2027.
What the survey found
A supercell thunderstorm developed through 5:30 PM Wednesday evening into southwestern Henry County. At 6:03 PM, this storm resulted in a tornado beginning south of Clinton, MO near the Lake. As it continued northeast into the southeast side of the city. The tornado strengthend to EF-1 with a peak wind speed of 98 MPH as it crossed E. Calvird Rd. The tornado weakend to EF0 before ending near E. Clinton St. and S. 8th St. This was the first of two tornadoes associated with this storm.
Written by NWS EAX in the NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit. A survey is revised as better evidence arrives.
The damage survey
20 damage points were recorded along this path by NWS EAX, in the Damage Assessment Toolkit the survey teams carry. The strongest indicator was rated EF1. The highest wind the damage implies is 98 mph.
Survey points are preliminary and are the raw material the published rating was built from. Source: NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit.
The warnings
12 minutes of warning. NWS EAX issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:51 UTC, 12 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 23:15 UTC.
The county was under a tornado watch, issued at 20:40 UTC and running to 00:56 UTC.
| Issued (UTC) | Expired | Product | Office |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20:40 UTC | 00:56 UTC | Tornado Watch | EAX |
| 22:36 UTC | 23:15 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EAX |
| 22:51 UTC | 23:15 UTC | Tornado Warning | EAX |
| 22:56 UTC | 23:18 UTC | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EAX |
| 23:10 UTC | 23:22 UTC | Tornado Warning | EAX |
| 23:16 UTC | 23:22 UTC | Tornado Warning | EAX |
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 Slight Risk, with a 0.05 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 19:55 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), 12:00Z
11.1 hours before the tornado, 161 km from the path. April 15, 2026.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 192 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -57 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 12 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 810 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 30 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 37 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 163 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 148 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.3 K/km
Springfield, MO (KSGF), 00:00Z
0.9 hours after it, 161 km from the path. April 16, 2026.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 825 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -14 J/kg
- Surface CAPE
- 1652 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 668 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 50 kt
- 0-1 km bulk shear
- 37 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 333 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 372 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.6
- Supercell composite
- 11.3
- 0-3 km lapse rate
- 5.8 K/km
The surface observations
Clinton (GLY), 8 km from the path, in the two hours either side.
| Time (UTC) | Temp (°F) | Dew point (°F) | Wind | Gust (kt) | Pressure (mb) | Weather |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21:15 UTC | 75.2 | 66.2 | 190° 10 kt | 1008.5 | UP | |
| 21:35 UTC | 73.4 | 66.2 | 200° 9 kt | 1008.5 | UP HZ | |
| 21:55 UTC | 73.4 | 66.2 | 200° 8 kt | 1008.1 | ||
| 22:15 UTC | 73.4 | 66.2 | 170° 9 kt | 1008.1 | VCTS UP HZ | |
| 22:35 UTC | 71.6 | 66.2 | 180° 10 kt | 1008.5 | -TSRA HZ | |
| 22:55 UTC | 71.6 | 68 | 200° 6 kt | 14 | 1009.1 | -TSRA HZ |
| 23:15 UTC | 71.6 | 68 | 140° 8 kt | 1008.1 | -TSRA BR | |
| 23:35 UTC | 69.8 | 66.2 | 200° 8 kt | 1009.5 | VCTS RA BR | |
| 23:55 UTC | 69.8 | 66.2 | 160° 17 kt | 1007.5 | TS BR | |
| 00:15 UTC | 66.2 | 60.8 | 180° 9 kt | 1007.5 | VCTS | |
| 00:35 UTC | 66.2 | 60.8 | 180° 7 kt | 1007.8 | VCTS | |
| 00:55 UTC | 64.4 | 60.8 | 180° 10 kt | 1007.5 |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.
The radar
The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 66 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:03 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) | Report | Where | County | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21:41 UTC | HAIL 0.75 | 3 N Archie | Cass, MO | Penny sized hail reported at 327th St and I-49 in Archie. |
| 21:56 UTC | HAIL 1.25 | 1 N East Lynne | Cass, MO | Social media report. Time estimated from radar. |
| 22:00 UTC | HAIL 1.25 | 2 Wnw Kingsville | Johnson, MO | Taken from social media, estimated ping pongs. Time estimated from radar. |
| 22:02 UTC | HAIL 1 | Strasburg | Cass, MO | Social media report of quarter size hail in the Strasburg area. Time estimated from radar. |
| 22:59 UTC | TSTM WND DMG | Adrian | Bates, MO | Taken from social media, video of bent power poles and shingles blown off house. Time estimated by radar. |
| 23:03 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Ssw Clinton | Henry, MO | A supercell thunderstorm developed through 5:30 PM Wednesday evening into southwestern Henry County. At 6:03 PM, this storm resulted in a tornado beginning south of Clinton, MO near the Lake. As it continued northeast in |
| 23:09 UTC | TORNADO | 2 Ene Clinton | Henry, MO | Tornado reported on the ground by storm chaser. |
| 23:09 UTC | TORNADO | Clinton | Henry, MO | This is the second tornado that resulted from a supercell thunderstorm that developed in Henry county and impacted Clinton, MO. The NWS Survey team found a gap in damage and security video from Henry County Emergency Man |
From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service local storm reports.
This ground now
The live radar over the trackEvery 2026 tornado in MissouriEvery tornado in Missouri since 1950Warnings in force in Missouri nowThe forecast where you are
The other tornadoes of April 15, 2026
6 more have been surveyed in the United States that day, so far.
What this means
Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. A survey can be revised, so the rating, the path and the casualties can all still change.
Sources
NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit, the record the survey teams file from the damage, and NOAA Storm Prediction Center storm reports. Neither is the official database for 2026, which SPC publishes in the spring of 2027.