Kansas City/Pleasant Hill, MO

Weather Forecast Office

September 18, 2015 Tornadoes in Hillsdale Lake, Cass-Midway, Harrisonville

Overview

After a generally rainy and cloudy, enough sunshine broke through late in the afternoon to enable a supercell thunderstorm to develop, along a southeastward advancing cold front. The supercell produced several tornadoes with a rating up to an EF-1. The first tornado formed just southwest of Hillsdale Lake and trekked eastward toward the Kansas/Missouri border. This tornado did quite a bit of damage to residences in Miami County (KS), with several of those structures being completely destroyed. The second tornado formed in western Cass County. This tornado did some damage to structures in the Freeman, Missouri area, but not as many structures were affected as with the earlier Hillsdale Lake Tornado. This [2nd] tornado impacted Cass-Midway High School during high school football festivities. Thankfully school administrators heeded warnings and evacuated the outdoors portions of the night's events shortly before the tornado impacted the school. The 3rd and final tornado was brief, and occurred just south of Harrisonville. Storm chaser footage confirmed the tornado as it cross I-49 near the Walmart distribution center in Harrisonville.

Football scoreboard at Cass-Midway High School lies on the ground, after its supports gave way in a tornado that went through the area on the afternoon of September 18, 2015.

Tornado
Radar

Tornadoes:

Hillsdale Lake Tornado
Miami County, Kansas

Date	September 18, 2015
Time (Local)	6:09 PM - 6:35 PM CDT
EF Rating	EF-1
Est. Peak Winds	86-110 mph
Path Length	9.3 miles
Max Width	100 yards
Injuries/Deaths	1 injury
Summary: A NWS survey team concluded that the tornado developed near the southwest side of Hillsdale Lake, traveling a few degrees north of east, before dissipating in rural Miami county between Spring Hill and Louisburg. The tornado caused one non-critical injury at a trailer park at Hillsdale Lake. A single wide manufactured home was rolled but remained essentially intact. Three unsecured RVs were also rolled and destroyed. Several structures were also damaged and destroyed along the tornado's 9+ mile path.

Track Map

Downloadable KMZ File


Photo of the tornado that impacted numerous residences and outbuildings across portions of rural Miami Co (KS).	A house was severely damaged near the southwest shoreline of Hillsdale Lake after an EF-1 tornado came through the area.	A modular home was destroyed in an EF-1 tornado near Hillsdale Lake.	Several RVs were rolled and destroyed along Hillsdale Lake's southern shoreline after an EF-1 tornado came through the area.

Photo of the tornado that impacted numerous residences and outbuildings across portions of rural Miami Co (KS).

Aerial shot of the above structure that was damaged near Hillsdale Lake.

Photo: Miami Co Sheriff

Aerial shot of the above structure that was destroyed near Hillsdale Lake.

Photo: Miami Co Sheriff

Aerial shot of the RV park where the above camper was destroyed, near Hillsdale Lake.

Photo: Miami Co Sheriff

Cass-Midway/Freeman Tornado
Cass County, Missouri

Date	September 18, 2015
Time (Local)	6:57 PM - 7:12 PM CDT
EF Rating	EF-1
Est. Peak Winds	86-100 mph
Path Length	5.3 miles
Max Width	100 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0
Summary: A NWS storm survey found that the tornado formed east of West Line along Missouri Highway 2 and traveled a few degrees south of east. The storm struck Cass-Midway High School were a football game was about to be played. However due to advanced warning, all attendees, about 250 people, were placed into shelter about 10 minutes prior to the tornado making a direct hit on the stadium. No injuries were reported despite extensive damage to the stands and scoreboard.

Track Map

Downloadable KMZ File


The scoreboard at Cass Midway High School was blown over when the EF-1 tornado came through the area.	A veterinarian clinic had some minor damage from the EF-1 tornado that came through the area.	A residence just north of Freeman sustained substantial damage from the EF-1 tornado.	An outbuilding in rural Cass County was destroyed by the EF-1 tornado.

Harrisonville Tornado
Cass County, Missouri

Date	September 18, 2015
Time (Local)	7:32 PM - 7:35 PM CDT
EF Rating	EF-0
Est. Peak Winds	80 mph
Path Length	2.3 miles
Max Width	25 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0
Summary: Live footage from a broadcast media helicopter as well as storm chaser reports show a weak and intermittent tornado touched down south of Harrisonville, east of I-49, causing minor damage to a Walmart distribution center.

Track Map

The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale classifies tornadoes into the following categories:

EF0 Weak 65-85 mph	EF1 Moderate 86-110 mph	EF2 Significant 111-135 mph	EF3 Severe 136-165 mph	EF4 Extreme 166-200 mph	EF5 Catastrophic 200+ mph

Radar:

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