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EF1 tornado in St. Louis County, Missouri

Tornado December 31, 2010 · St. Louis County, Missouri

EF1
Rating
1.7 mi
Path length
175 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 175 yards (0.10 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

The tornado touched down just northwest of the intersection of Manchester Road and Birchwood Drive. The tornado traveled to the northeast around 45 mph crossing Kehrs Mill Road, passing through the east side of the Ballwin Golf Course, then crossing Holloway Road and Baxter Road. The tornado lifted just east of the intersection of Brass Lamp Drive and Morewood Court. There were numerous occurrences of tree damage along the tornado path including snapped trees and tree branches as well as uprooted trees. Nearly three dozen homes sustained damage, although the vast majority of this damage was superficial consisting of damaged fascia, soffit and missing/damaged shingles.

The wider storm

Severe thunderstorms developed ahead of a strong cold front, triggering numerous showers and thunderstorms. A number of tornadoes were reported as well as damaging winds and large hail.

Began near Ballwin (38.5935, -90.5559).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

EF3 St. Louis County 1 deadEF2 Franklin CountyEF1 St. Louis (c) CountyEF1 Franklin CountyEF1 Crawford CountyEF1 Franklin CountyEF0 St. Charles County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 272951. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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