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EF1 tornado in Christian County, Missouri

Tornado May 8, 2009 · Christian County, Missouri

EF1
Rating
17.0 mi
Whole path
880 yd
Path width
$2.8M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Taney County → Christian County → Douglas County → Douglas County → Douglas County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 880 yards (0.50 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF1 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF1 is moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken, consistent with estimated gusts of 86–110 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

This tornado is an extension of the Taney County tornado. A National Weather Service storm survey revealed that an EF-1 tornado impacted extreme southeast Christian County. Wind speeds were estimated at 100 mph as the tornado damaged two homes, destroyed a few outbuildings, and downed numerous trees. The tornado eventually tracked into western Douglas County.

The wider storm

An intense squall line impacted extreme southeast Kansas and the Missouri Ozarks with mainly damaging winds. However, 19 tornadoes along with large hail was also observed. Due to the straight line nature of the winds, damage was widespread and intense.

Began near Garrison (36.8123, -93.0143).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

16 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 170128. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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