EF0 tornado in Clinton County, Missouri

A brief EF0 tornado touchdown at 2252 CST was reported 4 miles south of Plattsburg, around J Highway and Middle Road. The tornado lifted at 2255 CST, with damage reported to two greenhouses/outbuildings. Trees larger than one foot in diamater, were also found snapped off at a height of 14 feet. These trees blocked roads. Power lines were also reported down.

Severe weather and heavy rain was observed across the lower Missouri River Valley region, May 12th through may 13th. Numerous impacts were felt in the region, with heavy rain, wind damage, and hail.

The most severe weather took place in portions of eastern Kansas and western Missouri, as a strong bow echo moved through the area near and just after the midnight hour. Embedded in this bow echo were small features called meso-vortices, which can often times cause local intensifications of the strong straightline winds, or even produce weak spinnup tornadoes. One such feature embedded in a smaller bowing storm segment south of the Plattsburg area, led to reports of a damaged greenhouse, tree damage, as well as damage to other nearby structures. It was determined, that a combination of enhanced straight line winds as well as a very brief and weak (EF0) tornado, produced winds as high as 70 to 85 mph in this area. Further to the south, strong straight line winds, also blew over trees and caused other forms of property damage, to fences and homes in areas around Kansas City. Several observations of 60 to 70 mph winds were observed in the area.

However, the biggest impact from this event, was the persistent heavy rain due to the training of storms over the same areas. The hardest hit areas were in the Kirksville and Chillicothe areas, where rainfall totals in the 3 to 6 inch range were common. Elsewhere, while rainfall amounts may have been lower, the rapid rainfall rates in excess of 2 per hour, caused localized flash flooding in portions of the Kansas City Metropoitan area and elsewhere. The heavy rains caused many rivers and creeks to go out of their banks.