National Weather Service confirms tornado traveled through Rolla on Thursday night
ROLLA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The National Weather Service Office in Springfield confirmed on Friday afternoon that an EF-0 tornado traveled through Rolla for about a minute on Thursday night.
The maximum width of the tornado was 200 yards and it traveled more than a half mile from 10:02-03 p.m., the NWS shared on social media. Winds peaked between 80-85 miles per hour.
The tornado began along Homelife Plaza and went south before “lifting near” Soest Road, the :NWS says. “However it could not be determined as tornadic from that point on due to the lack of convergent damage,” the post says.
Damage was caused to trees and several businesses, including Dollar General and a smoke shop.
The Phelps County Central Communications said in a Thursday night social media post that it set off tornado sirens after residents had reported a tornado, even though a tornado warning wasn't issued.
"We had a citizens report of a tornado on the ground and that is why we set off the tornado sirens," the post says.
Communications Chief Stacey Smith said that typically, the storm sirens aren't set off for a thunderstorm warning, but Thursday's storms were an exception.
"In an event like that, where we feel like the public needs to take cover, we can activate those storm sirens. It doesn't happen very often because the National Weather Service typically is able to see this stuff before it gets to us," Smith said.
She said there were other funnel cloud sightings in the county too.
"We did have several first responders last night report rotation in other areas, at least two others, but that never touched down. Sounds like we got lucky," Smith said.
The National Weather Service did not issue a tornado watch or warning for Phelps County, but it did issue a thunderstorm watch and warning, along with a flash flood warning.
Kristina Fryer, a Rolla resident who sent ABC 17 News a video of the storm, said it seemed similar to the EF-2 tornado that hit the city in March 2025.
"I was waiting for the tornado sirens because with the way things were looking, it was very similar to the storm we had last year in March when the tornado did come through," Fryer said.
Another resident who also sent a video in, Isaiah Campbell, said he saw a funnel cloud, but it didn't seem like it was strong.
"This one wasn't that bad. It hit a small area this time. I don't think it was really on the ground that long but it did, it caused some damage over there," Campbell said.
According to a Facebook post, Rolla Public Schools observed debris from trees, with one tree on a fence, but minor damage overall. No buses or buildings were damaged.
There were 80 Intercounty Electric Cooperative Association members without power as of 11 a.m.
