Insider Blog: Eight tornadoes confirmed in Missouri following overnight severe storms
Eight tornadoes were confirmed following National Weather Service damage surveys today after a line of severe thunderstorms rolled across the state late last night into early this morning.
Storms started off as a wide reaching outbreak across the Plains earlier on Monday, developing into a hundreds of miles long squall line that had embedded rotation as it marched east. Some of those circulations produced tornadoes, while straight line wind damage was reported elsewhere.
The first reported tornadoes touched down in the Kansas City area. The first tornado of the night developed in northeast Platte County where it traveled about 6.2 miles. The tornado was rated EF-0 with winds up to 80 mph. The next Kansas City area tornado touched down near Blue Springs and traveled up toward Grain Valley with a path of 5.5 miles. It was rated an EF-1 with maximum winds of 100 mph.
Around 11:30 p.m., a tornado touched down on the south side of Joplin and lifted northeast of Duquense. It traveled about 4.5 miles and had a wind speed of 95 mph, giving it a rating of EF-1. That tornado uprooted several trees and damaged roofs.
A second tornado developed not long afterward about 3 miles west of Carthage, traveling 2 miles and hitting maximum wind speeds of 95 mph. It was rated EF-1 after uprooting trees, downing power lines, and causing roof damage.
The longest track tornado of the night developed in northern Greene County and ended on the far southwestern corner of Dallas County. The storm was rated EF-0 with a path almost 19 miles long and winds up to 80 mph. The tornado uprooted trees, downed large tree limbs, and destroyed outbuildings. One person was hurt as two homes were damaged by falling trees.
Later in the night as storms moved east of Highway 63, a tornado touched down in Crawford County after 3:30 a.m. That tornado was rated EF-0 with 80 mph winds as it tracked through the Blue Springs Creek Conservation area, downing trees along a 0.7 mile path. A stronger tornado with a shorter 0.3 mile path touched down near the high school in Sullivan, producing damage at a restaurant and downing several trees. That was rated EF-1 with 100 mph winds.
The last Missouri tornado touched down near Defiance in St. Charles County, damaging trees along Highway DD. It was rated EF-0 with 76 mph winds.
