EF1 tornado in Madison County, Missouri

A tornado touched down just to the southwest of Fredericktown near the intersection of County Roads 500 and 501 where large tree limbs were blown down. The tornado then crossed Old U.S. 67 and either uprooted or snapped several cedar and oak trees as it moved northeast along County Road 201. The diameter of the tree trunks ranged from 2 to 3 feet. About 100 yards northeast of County Road 201, a machine shed composed of large cement bricks was severely damaged. Additional tree damage occurred north and northeast of the machine shed. An older machine shed was damaged 100 yards southwest of the City of Fredericktown. A two vehicle garage located across County Road 201 was completely destroyed. One vehicle in the garage was severely damaged. Within the southwest city limits of Fredericktown medium to large branches (3 to 10 inches) in diameter were snapped by the tornado. There was damage to a fence at a tennis court and also at a baseball park. Additional tree damage was located just south of Main Street. Half a mile northeast of the downtown area, medium size tree branches were downed in a residential area. Some of the large tree limbs damaged one home. Another nearby home lost over 60 percent of its roof covering. The tornado then struck a distributing company which transports Styrofoam blocks on State Highway J just northeast of the intersection with Highway 72. The large blocks weighing around 300 pounds each were tossed 40 to 80 yards to the northeast. The tornado continued to the east along State Highway J for about another mile before lifting and dissipating. The total damage track was 5.5 miles, while damage width was between 30 to 40 yards. The damage intensity was rated EF1.

Strong area of low pressure moved into the forecast area with a dry line out ahead of the main cold front. Storms fired up along and just ahead of the dry line beginning in the early afternoon hours. There were numerous reports of large hail with isolated damaging winds and tornadoes with this event.