EF2 tornado in Ripley County, Missouri

This rather large EF-2 tornado traveled from approximately six miles north of Doniphan to twelve miles northeast of Doniphan in heavily forested, hilly terrain. The tornado began on the west side of Highway 21, crossed Highway K and the Little Black River, and ended on the Butler County line. Hundreds of large hardwood and pine trees were snapped or uprooted. One barn or shed was destroyed. The tornado reached peak intensity between Highway K and the Little Black River, where peak winds were estimated near 120 mph.

A cluster of severe thunderstorms over south central Missouri organized into a bowing line of storms as it tracked eastward during the evening. An embedded supercell within the line spawned several tornadoes along an east-west corridor from Ripley County eastward to New Madrid County. A couple of significant tornadoes and damaging wind events accompanied this line, along with large hail. The storms developed along and just ahead of a cold front as it pressed southward into the Lower Ohio Valley and extreme southeast Missouri.