EF3 Tornado — Wayne, Missouri

2011-05-25 · near Leeper, Wayne, Missouri

Event narrative

This tornado continued from Carter County into Wayne County. Three homes were destroyed. One log home in far southwestern Wayne County was levelled. Nine houses suffered major damage, and another 39 homes had minor damage. The vast majority of damage was in the Silva area. In Silva, a camper and a mobile home were destroyed. A Silva family reportedly did not make it to their tornado shelter in time. A large tree fell on one of the victims, resulting in a dislocated shoulder. Another family member received minor to moderate injuries to the hip, back, and head. Several vehicles were destroyed or damaged from flying debris and fallen trees. A couple of churches received mainly minor damage. Hundreds of acres of large trees were uprooted or snapped. A half-mile section of Highway 34 east of Silva was closed due to downed trees and power lines. Most streets in Silva were blocked by trees and limbs. Peak winds were estimated near 150 mph. The average path width was about 450 yards. The tornado continued northeast into Madison County.

Wider weather episode

Numerous strong to severe thunderstorms occurred in the warm sector of a low pressure system over central Missouri. The air mass in the warm sector was very unstable, with afternoon mixed-layer cape values in the 2500 to 4000 j/kg range. A 65 to 75 knot mid level jet was located across Arkansas, with the nose of the jet moving into western Kentucky. This feature enhanced the lift and strong deep-layer shear already in place, creating an environment very favorable for supercells and tornadoes. A 40 to 55 knot low level jet across eastern Arkansas moved into western Kentucky during the evening, resulting in a long-track strong tornado.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.9411, -90.7165)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 307046. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.