Monday storm damage recap

Monday saw widespread storms leading to damaging encompassing much of the state. From wind gusts up to 80 mph, hail over 2", to weaker tornadoes it was a busy day for meteorologist across the region.

Hundreds of hail and wind reports rang out across the state mainly centered along and just north of the I-44 corridor.

The driving force behind such an active day was caused by the location of the low pressure system to our northwest and the attached warm front. Being south of this warm front lead to a more charged environment for storm development due to the warmer temperatures and the changing of winds known as wind shear.

Storms would begin in two separate rounds. The first would occur well ahead of the approaching cold front from the west that would lead to a tornado warning in Osage county and even a confirmed EF-0 tornado in Chesterfield with winds that reached up to 85 mph.

The second round would become more tornadic starting down towards Springfield, Missouri and moving to the northeast along I-44. This would actually be driven along a cold front, but becomes more dangerous as it moves along a outflow boundary from the first round of storms just to the north. An outflow boundary is a surge of cold air and winds extending ahead of storms. This boundary would set up parallel just north of I-44 and cause an increase in wind shear (change in wind direction and speed) to increase rotation motions leading to more tornadic storms.

This same system has moved out of Missouri and off to northeastern portions of the United States leading to even more issues as the system is given an increased secure risk from a 3/5 to a 4/5 with all severe threats on the table.

St. Robert, Mo.(Courtesy KY3)

A police department shed was damaged by high winds in St. Robert, Mo as a result of last nights storms.

New Haven, Mo (Courtesy Richard Sample)

Wardsville/ Taos ( Courtesy Catherine Haslag)