Tornado in Barry County, Missouri

The National Weather Service determined that an EF-0 tornado touched down northeast of Shell Knob. Video evidence was used to confirm the tornado. While a circulation was clearly evident and a condensation funnel was on the ground, no damage could be observed due to the distance from which the video was taken. The tornado moved across a heavily forested and inaccessible area, making the beginning and end points estimates. No structural damage was noted.

Very moist and unstable conditions developed over the Missouri Ozarks ahead of an intense low pressure system over the southern Plains. Widespread severe storms developed over Oklahoma and eastern Kansas during the early morning hours and tracked eastward into the Springfield county warning area during the afternoon and evening. Very heavy rainfall, hail to tennis ball size, damaging winds in excess of 70 mph and 27 tornadoes occurred with this system as storms tracked repeatedly over the region. Four injuries were reported as a result of severe storms. One injury was near Mountain Grove and three were in southeastern Greene County were an EF-2 Tornado tracked. The resulting rainfall led to widespread flash flooding, which continued into the morning of May 1st, on head water streams and low water crossings. One live was lost when a camper along Hunter Creek in Douglas County drowned as the campground flooded.