Brief tornado touchdown Tuesday evening

A weak tornado briefly touched down close to 6:20 PM Tuesday, April 19 two miles north of Laddonia in northeast Audrain county near highway 54 and 19. We received a report of damage to an outdoor storage shed.

Showers and t-storms developed in southern Audrain county close to 5:30 PM and increased into a line as they moved slowly to the north. The National Weather Service did not issue a Tornado Warning on the storm since it only produced weak rotation which didn’t indicate a tornado would form. By the time they received the first report of the tornado, it was no longer on the ground.

Atmospheric conditions were not favorable for severe storms Tuesday and the Storm Prediction Center did not have Mid-Missouri in a risk for severe storms. This storm was an isolated case of severe weather as the storm only had weak rotation. The absence of a “supercell” or strongly rotating storm indicates that this tornado was formed as a horizontal tube of air got lifted by an updraft in the thunderstorm. When a tornado forms this way, it is called a landspout but is still classified as a tornado. The funnel is usually narrow and hard to identify until it starts picking up debris. These are usually weak and short-lived although some have been given the rating of EF-2.

The National Weather Service in St. Louis will determine if they will send a storm survey team to the site Wednesday.