Midwest Freelancer archive article
Mother Nature gets jump on Severe Weather Week
(Published Wednesday, March 15, 2006)
By Chris Post/Midwest Freelancer
While the annual Severe Weather Awareness Week did not officially start until Monday, Mother Nature got a jump start with a round of spring storms Sunday.
The awareness week is conducted by the National Weather Service in conjunction with the Kansas Division of Emergency Management, the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency and local emergency management agencies.
As part of the planned activities, a tornado drill was held at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 14. For residents of central Missouri, Sunday was no drill as a significant tornado outbreak occurred.
In addition to 14 tornado touchdowns, 201 reports of large hail and damaging winds were also received from virtually every county in the Pleasant Hill service area. Sunday night’s activity exceeded the local areas yearly average of 11 tornadoes and produced about half of the average 400 reports of hail and wind in the local region.
According to the weather service, several key features came together to create the outbreak of severe weather, which caused millions of dollars in damage across the state.
First, an extremely strong upper level jet lying across Kansas and Missouri coupled with increasing south winds near the surface drawing in warm moist and unstable air to create the unstable conditions necessary to support supercell thunderstorms. These supercell thunderstorms occasionally spawn large long-tracked tornadoes.
A cold front which moved through the region on Saturday began to return north as a warm front Sunday. By the noon hour this warm front was just south of the Missouri River. Severe thunderstorms producing large hail and tornadoes began forming along this front.
Sunday’s tornadoes came in rounds, with the first wave of four (shown in red on the National Weather Service map) forming from a supercell that moved through Kansas City. According to the National Weather Service, the most intense tornado from this group struck along the Missouri River near Sibley, running through Orrick in Ray County.
In the mid-afternoon, a second batch of four tornadoes (shown in blue on the NWS map) began to form.The most damaging tornado from the second round touched down at approximately 3:50 pm in far eastern Henry County, then moved through Pettis County and into far southwest Cooper County before dissipating. This tornado produced F2 damage to several structures south and southeast of Sedalia.
One of Sunday’s tornado fatalities occurred with a resident attempting to evacuate a mobile home to the south of Sedalia. The other tornadoes from the second round include a F0 tornado which affected areas from Amsterdam to near Adrian in Bates County. Damage was noted to the Amsterdam Fire Department.
A third touchdown was noted by spotters just northeast of La Monte in Pettis County (this would be a second storm north of the one that produced the F2 south of Sedalia). This tornado moved northeast, crossed I-70 and then dissipated west of Nelson in Saline County. Damage from this tornado caused traffic problems along I-70 west of Boonville for a time.
The final round of six tornadoes (shaded in green) struck the region after sunset Sunday evening. According to the NWS, These tornadoes also were the most intense of the outbreak, and also the most dangerous as they occured after dark. Two distinct supercell thunderstorms produced this series of tornadoes from Johnson County, Missouri, northeast through Saline, Howard and Randolph Counties.
Weather service reports indicate that the first tornado of nighttime round struck near Butler around 7:52 pm, then moved northeast to areas west and north of Urich in Henry County. This tornado dissipated just southeast of Blairstown in northern Henry County.
A second tornado formed from this supercell storm approximately three miles northeast of Leeton (in Johnson County, Missouri) around 8:40 pm. The tornado tracked across eastern Johnson County to the south of Whiteman Air Force Base (AFB), then dissipated to the southwest of La Monte in Pettis County. Damage of F2 intensity was noted south of Whiteman AFB, where roofs were completely removed from several frame houses along Y Highway.
The remaining four tornadoes formed from the second supercell storm. The first tornado from this supercell touched down approximately 3 miles northeast of Warrensburg around 7:54 pm. The tornado moved northeast, producing F0 damage through northeast Johnson and northwest Pettis Counties. The tornado may have lifted briefly south of Sweet Springs, but damage increased again along this same path approximately 3 miles southeast of Sweet Springs. The tornado intensified near I-70, and produced F2 damage just northeast of I-70 near Exit 71, where several houses lost their roofs. Further strengthening occurred as the tornado passed south of Marshall where the tornado intensified to F3 strength.
As this tornado passed south of Marshall along US-65, a second tornado formed approximately 3 miles south-southeast of the first tornado. Both were visible from the I-70 and US-65 interchange. Both tornadoes moved northeast and paralleled each other for several miles.
A third tornado in Saline County formed briefly as the first two approached the Missouri River. Storm chaser accounts describe this third tornado as short-lived, as it quickly merged with the second tornado led to the second tornado becoming over a quarter mile wide and intensifying to F3 strength, while the first tornado finally occluded and dissipated. The tornado passed north of Arrow Rock and produced F2 damage to the northwest of Fayettte.
The last tornado associated with this supercell developed to the south-southwest of Moberly, or just to the east of Higbee, in far southern Randolph County, at approximately 9:10 pm. The tornado moved northeast to just south of Renick, where F2 damage was noted to several homes and mobile homes. This tornado took the lives of four Randolph County residents. The tornado produced F3 damage where a farmhouse was destroyed, just before it moved northeast and into Monroe County.
The state of Missouri recorded 31 tornadoes in 2005, a few higher than the average of 26. In Kansas, 2005 saw the setting of a state record with 135 tornadoes recorded. This broke the previous record of 122 set just one year before.
The busiest tornado day across the local region was June 4, 2005 when eight tornadoes were spotted. The first two tornadoes that struck that occurred right around sunrise in Johnson County, Missouri. One of these tornadoes reached F1 intensity, and produced just over $1 million in damage to the Miller’s Horse Farm south of Holden. Two residents were also injured by this tornado.
By Chris Post/Midwest Freelancer
While the annual Severe Weather Awareness Week did not officially start until Monday, Mother Nature got a jump start with a round of spring storms Sunday.
The awareness week is conducted by the National Weather Service in conjunction with the Kansas Division of Emergency Management, the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency and local emergency management agencies.
As part of the planned activities, a tornado drill was held at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 14. For residents of central Missouri, Sunday was no drill as a significant tornado outbreak occurred.
In addition to 14 tornado touchdowns, 201 reports of large hail and damaging winds were also received from virtually every county in the Pleasant Hill service area. Sunday night’s activity exceeded the local areas yearly average of 11 tornadoes and produced about half of the average 400 reports of hail and wind in the local region.
According to the weather service, several key features came together to create the outbreak of severe weather, which caused millions of dollars in damage across the state.
First, an extremely strong upper level jet lying across Kansas and Missouri coupled with increasing south winds near the surface drawing in warm moist and unstable air to create the unstable conditions necessary to support supercell thunderstorms. These supercell thunderstorms occasionally spawn large long-tracked tornadoes.
A cold front which moved through the region on Saturday began to return north as a warm front Sunday. By the noon hour this warm front was just south of the Missouri River. Severe thunderstorms producing large hail and tornadoes began forming along this front.
Sunday’s tornadoes came in rounds, with the first wave of four (shown in red on the National Weather Service map) forming from a supercell that moved through Kansas City. According to the National Weather Service, the most intense tornado from this group struck along the Missouri River near Sibley, running through Orrick in Ray County.
In the mid-afternoon, a second batch of four tornadoes (shown in blue on the NWS map) began to form.The most damaging tornado from the second round touched down at approximately 3:50 pm in far eastern Henry County, then moved through Pettis County and into far southwest Cooper County before dissipating. This tornado produced F2 damage to several structures south and southeast of Sedalia.
One of Sunday’s tornado fatalities occurred with a resident attempting to evacuate a mobile home to the south of Sedalia. The other tornadoes from the second round include a F0 tornado which affected areas from Amsterdam to near Adrian in Bates County. Damage was noted to the Amsterdam Fire Department.
A third touchdown was noted by spotters just northeast of La Monte in Pettis County (this would be a second storm north of the one that produced the F2 south of Sedalia). This tornado moved northeast, crossed I-70 and then dissipated west of Nelson in Saline County. Damage from this tornado caused traffic problems along I-70 west of Boonville for a time.
The final round of six tornadoes (shaded in green) struck the region after sunset Sunday evening. According to the NWS, These tornadoes also were the most intense of the outbreak, and also the most dangerous as they occured after dark. Two distinct supercell thunderstorms produced this series of tornadoes from Johnson County, Missouri, northeast through Saline, Howard and Randolph Counties.
Weather service reports indicate that the first tornado of nighttime round struck near Butler around 7:52 pm, then moved northeast to areas west and north of Urich in Henry County. This tornado dissipated just southeast of Blairstown in northern Henry County.
A second tornado formed from this supercell storm approximately three miles northeast of Leeton (in Johnson County, Missouri) around 8:40 pm. The tornado tracked across eastern Johnson County to the south of Whiteman Air Force Base (AFB), then dissipated to the southwest of La Monte in Pettis County. Damage of F2 intensity was noted south of Whiteman AFB, where roofs were completely removed from several frame houses along Y Highway.
The remaining four tornadoes formed from the second supercell storm. The first tornado from this supercell touched down approximately 3 miles northeast of Warrensburg around 7:54 pm. The tornado moved northeast, producing F0 damage through northeast Johnson and northwest Pettis Counties. The tornado may have lifted briefly south of Sweet Springs, but damage increased again along this same path approximately 3 miles southeast of Sweet Springs. The tornado intensified near I-70, and produced F2 damage just northeast of I-70 near Exit 71, where several houses lost their roofs. Further strengthening occurred as the tornado passed south of Marshall where the tornado intensified to F3 strength.
As this tornado passed south of Marshall along US-65, a second tornado formed approximately 3 miles south-southeast of the first tornado. Both were visible from the I-70 and US-65 interchange. Both tornadoes moved northeast and paralleled each other for several miles.
A third tornado in Saline County formed briefly as the first two approached the Missouri River. Storm chaser accounts describe this third tornado as short-lived, as it quickly merged with the second tornado led to the second tornado becoming over a quarter mile wide and intensifying to F3 strength, while the first tornado finally occluded and dissipated. The tornado passed north of Arrow Rock and produced F2 damage to the northwest of Fayettte.
The last tornado associated with this supercell developed to the south-southwest of Moberly, or just to the east of Higbee, in far southern Randolph County, at approximately 9:10 pm. The tornado moved northeast to just south of Renick, where F2 damage was noted to several homes and mobile homes. This tornado took the lives of four Randolph County residents. The tornado produced F3 damage where a farmhouse was destroyed, just before it moved northeast and into Monroe County.
The state of Missouri recorded 31 tornadoes in 2005, a few higher than the average of 26. In Kansas, 2005 saw the setting of a state record with 135 tornadoes recorded. This broke the previous record of 122 set just one year before.
The busiest tornado day across the local region was June 4, 2005 when eight tornadoes were spotted. The first two tornadoes that struck that occurred right around sunrise in Johnson County, Missouri. One of these tornadoes reached F1 intensity, and produced just over $1 million in damage to the Miller’s Horse Farm south of Holden. Two residents were also injured by this tornado.