Springfield, MO

Weather Forecast Office

...May 27th, 2017 Severe Weather and Flooding...

Overview

Multiple rounds of severe thunderstorms brought damaging straight-line winds, large hail, tornadoes, and flooding to the Missouri Ozarks and southeastern Kansas from May 27th into the early morning hours of May 28th. Over 130 reports of severe weather and flooding were received from the Missouri Ozarks and southeastern Kansas alone. This severe weather outbreak stretched from Kansas and Oklahoma, east into the southern Appalachians with well over 700 reports of severe weather.

Some of the main highlights across the Missouri Ozarks included:

Five confirmed tornadoes
Numerous reports of quarter to golf ball sized hail with some reports of hail as large as tennis balls
Large amounts of tree damage and some structural damage due to straight-line winds
Significant flash flooding in the Branson area

This severe weather outbreak was the result of extreme amounts of instability in the atmosphere combined with strong wind shear. This type of volatile atmosphere resulted in multiple thunderstorm line segments which produced straight-line winds over 70 mph at times, along with embedded tornadoes. Supercell thunderstorms also developed and were responsible for the very large hail.

Summary of Tornado (Red), Wind (Blue), and Hail (Green) Reports from the Storm Prediction Center for 27 May 2017

Tornado and Wind Damage Surveys
Flooding
Radar

Tornadoes and Wind Damage Surveys:

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Tornado -
Phillipsburg, MO

Date	05/27/2017
Time (Local)	2:50 PM CDT
EF Rating	EF-1
Est. Peak Winds	90 MPH
Path Length	9 Miles
Max Width	100 Yards
Injuries/Deaths	0/0
Summary: This EF-1 tornado uprooted numerous trees and damaged or destroyed several outbuildings. This tornado crossed Interstate 44 during the early portion of its life cycle.

Track Map

Downloadable KMZ File

Tornado -
Drynob, MO

Date	05/27/2017
Time (Local)	3:09 PM CDT
EF Rating	EF-1
Est. Peak Winds	90 MPH
Path Length	2 Miles
Max Width	100 Yards
Injuries/Deaths	0/0
Summary: This EF-1 tornado uprooted numerous trees along its path.

Track Map

Downloadable KMZ File

Tornado -
Falcon, MO

Date	05/27/2017
Time (Local)	3:05 PM CDT
EF Rating	EF-1
Est. Peak Winds	90-100 MPH
Path Length	4.78 Miles
Max Width	400 Yards
Injuries/Deaths	1/0
Summary: This EF-1 tornado caused major damage to a house and also caused numerous trees to snap.

Track Map

Downloadable KMZ File

Tornado -
Near FT. Leonard Wood, MO

Date	05/27/2017
Time (Local)	3:25 PM CDT
EF Rating	EF-1
Est. Peak Winds	90 MPH
Path Length	Brief Touchdown
Max Width	Brief Touchdown
Injuries/Deaths	0/0
Summary: This EF-1 tornado briefly touched down and uprooted numerous trees in a small area.

Track Map

Downloadable KMZ File

Tornado -
Tornado #1 Near Sunrise Beach, MO

Date	05/27/2017
Time (Local)	2:38 PM CDT
EF Rating	EF-1
Est. Peak Winds	90 MPH
Path Length	Brief Touchdown
Max Width	Brief Touchdown
Injuries/Deaths	0/0
Summary: This EF-1 tornado briefly touched down and uprooted several trees and damaged the roof of a metal building.

Track Map

Downloadable KMZ File

Tornado -
Tornado #2 Near Sunrise Beach, MO

Date	05/27/2017
Time (Local)	2:38 PM CDT
EF Rating	EF-1
Est. Peak Winds	90 MPH
Path Length	Brief Touchdown
Max Width	Brief Touchdown
Injuries/Deaths	0/0
Summary: This EF-1 tornado briefly touched down and uprooted numerous trees in a small area.

Track Map

Downloadable KMZ File

Significant Wind Damage -
Laclede, Pulaski, Phelps, Dent and Texas Counties

Date	05/27/2017
Time (Local)	3:20pm - 4:05 pm

Est. Peak Winds	80 - 95 mph
Path Length	up to 50 miles long
Max Width	10 to 15 miles wide
Injuries/Deaths	0/0
Summary: A NWS storm survey indicated a destructive swath of wind started in far southeastern Laclede County. This swath of extreme wind continued across northern Texas County, southern Pulaski County, southern Phelps County, western Dent County, and ended in central Dent County. Areas of large trees were uprooted or snapped off. Utility lines and poles were blown down or hit by falling trees along most of the wind swath. The hardest hit areas with more concentrated damage, including structural damage, were the communities of Edger Springs, Salem, and along portions of Highway 17. Both communities experienced minor to major damage to homes, businesses, and outbuildings. The metal roof and main structure of a church gym in Salem was crushed downward which indicated a downburst wind up to nearly 100 mph. Vehicle damage, blown off shingles, and blown out glass windows were very common across these communities. Some rural communities such as north of Evening Shade, Palace, Big Piney, and along Highway H sustained some structural damage with numerous trees falling on vehicles and roofs. Several outbuildings were severely damaged or destroyed. Some additional highways like Highway 63, Highway C, Highway DD, Highway 72, Highway 68, Highway 19, and Highway 32 were impacted by these intense straight line winds. Based of the damage, wind speeds of 80 to 95 mph were common, along with several areas of downburst winds that possibly reached up to 100 mph.

Track Map

Downloadable KMZ File

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

Flooding

Copious amounts of moisture in the atmosphere in combination with multiple rounds of thunderstorms resulted in heavy rainfall across parts of the Missouri Ozarks. General rainfall amounts ranged from 1-3" over many areas. However, there were localized areas that received much higher amounts.

The heaviest rainfall occurred in the Branson area where 3-6" of rain fell in about a 2-3 hour stretch. This resulted in significant flash flooding of local creeks including Fall, Cooper, and Roark Creeks. Multiple businesses and the Branson Campground were flooded as these creeks rose out of their banks.

Multiple water rescues were also conducted near these creeks as water rose at a rapid pace. Fall Creek rose from 1-2 feet to 10-15 feet in just 15 minutes. Unfortunately, there were two fatalities due to a vehicle getting stuck in flood waters along Fall Creek Road.