Insider Blog: Landspout observed in Missouri this week

It has been an active spring and severe weather season for Missouri this year with high winds and hail and several tornadoes reported across the state. Storms also produced a rare landspout yesterday afternoon near Joplin with minor damage reported.

Landspouts are a weak type of tornado produced by a specific atmospheric setup that differentiates them from more "classic" tornadoes. Most tornadoes come from a specific type of storm known as a supercell. Supercell thunderstorms are distinguished by their rotating, tilted updraft of warm air that feeds strong instability into the system. These storms can produce violent and long-track tornadoes with varying degrees of damage.

Conversely, a landspout is created by an atmospheric boundary (like a cold front) that draws in air from different directions. When air meets it can't go into the ground, instead it is forced upward and rotation is generated from the turbulent flow. This setup can still generate a rotating cyclone capable of high winds, but these storms are almost always weaker than supercells and other severe storms.

The weaker winds associated with landspouts make it harder to track this circulation on radar, but it also means these storms are typically weaker than stronger rotating storms. Yesterday's landspout produced EF0 damage with some shingles blown off and windows shattered.