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Thunderstorm Wind in Cape Girardeau County, Missouri

Thunderstorm Wind May 8, 2009 · Cape Girardeau County, Missouri

81 mph
Estimated gust (70 kt)
$3.0M
Damage as recorded

Where the report was made, with tornadoes recorded within 15 miles over the years.

What the National Weather Service wrote

Widespread damaging winds affected northern parts of the county. Over 1,000 trees were blown down, along with power lines. Many roads were blocked. The trees fell on homes, vehicles, and power lines. Power poles were snapped. Extended power outages lasting up to several days were reported. Barns and sheds were blown down. Just west of Oak Ridge, 259 trees were blown down on a single farm. The house and a garage on the farm received holes in their roofs. Windows were blown out of at least one house in Oak Ridge. Towns that experienced the worst damage were north of Jackson, including Daisy and Pocahontas. Several trees were blown down in Jackson, including one that landed on a car.

The wider storm

A mature, very intense derecho moved rapidly east along a stationary front across the Mid Mississippi Valley into the Lower Ohio Valley. With a very moist and unstable atmosphere, along with strongly veering winds aloft, embedded tornadic supercells were associated with the derecho. Widespread damaging winds were the primary impact. The bowing portion of the system caused extensive damage from the Poplar Bluff area west. The comma head at the northern end of the bow caused locally catastrophic damage along and north of a Marble Hill to Jackson line. Winds were estimated slightly over 100 mph there.

Began near Oak Ridge (37.5000, -89.7300).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 164144. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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