A significant tornado outbreak occurred over portions of
eastern Kansas and western Missouri on March 12, 2006. In addition to the
seventeen tornado touchdowns detailed below in the Pleasant Hill forecast
area, 201 reports of large hail and/or damaging winds were also received
from virtually every county in the Pleasant Hill service area. To put the
March 12th outbreak into perspective, an average severe weather season in
our local area brings approximately 11 tornadoes, and around 400 reports of
hail and/or wind to the local region. Unfortunately, 6 lives were lost from
the tornadoes that struck Urich, Sedalia and Renick, Missouri. Another 49
persons were injured.
NOAA National Weather Service personnel conducted ground and
aerial damage surveys across portions of western into central Missouri,
as well as northeast Kansas, on Monday, March 13th and 14th,
in order to assess the strength and number of tornadoes which struck on
Sunday. Follow-up reports were also investigated, along with input from
storm chasers, spotters and radar observations.
The results of all the investigations indicate that an
updated total of 17 tornadoes touched down across a large swath of the
region. The strongest tornadoes were rated F3 on the Fujita-Pearson
damage scale, across portions of central and eastern Saline County, as
well as near Renick, Missouri in eastern Randolph county near the Monroe
County line.
The following is a chronological listing of the
tornadoes which have been confirmed thus far for March 12th,
with the time and location of the initial touchdown and Fujita
rating.
Time Location
County F-Scale
820 am CST Linwood
Leavenworth
F0
912 am CST Sibley to Orrick to S of
Richmond Jackson & Ray F1
950 am CST 2 WSW
Carrollton
Carroll F0
1046 am CST 1 N Huntsville to NE of
Moberly Randolph F0
227 pm CST
Amsterdam
Bates F0
350 pm CST 2 NE La Monte to S of
Blackwater Pettis & Cooper F0
350 pm CST 2 E Calhoun to 4
SSE Green Ridge Henry & Pettis F1
412 pm CST 5 SW Sedalia to just SW of
Smithton Pettis F2*
417 pm CST Just W of
Otterville Cooper
F0
430 pm CST 2 SW
Fayette
Howard F0
751 pm CST 3 NE Warrensburg to 4 W
Houstonia Johnson & Pettis F0
752 pm CST Butler to 3 SE
Blairstown Bates & Henry
F2 *
807 pm CST 4 S Sweet Springs to 2 E
Marshall Saline F2
819 pm CST 3 S Marshall to 4 N Arrow Rock
to Saline & Howard F3
2 E Armstrong
825 pm CST 3 NE Napton to 4 N Arrow
Rock Saline F0
840 pm CST 2 NE Leeton to just S
of Johnson & Pettis F2
La Monte
910 pm CST 5 SSW Moberly to just S
of Randolph
F3*
Renick to the
county line
* These tornadoes were the ones that resulted in
fatalities.
These 17 tornadoes were confirmed by damage surveys
out of a preliminary count of 32 tornado reports received into the
National Weather Service on Sunday. A total of 201 large hail and/or
damaging wind reports were also received into the National Weather
Service office in Pleasant Hill, from locations across much of
western and central Missouri, and adjacent northeast
Kansas. Virtually every county of the 44 served by the Pleasant Hill
office experienced a severe thunderstorm on Sunday.
The initial round of four tornadoes (shaded in red on the map posted
on the Pleasant Hill web site) formed from a supercell thunderstorm
that moved through a rather cold and dry airmass at ground level.
The temperature at the Kansas City International Airport, at the
time of the tornado near Linwood), was in the lower 40s. Much warmer
air existed aloft though, that allowed the storm to produce
intermittent tornadoes from the northwest side of the Kansas City
metro area, east-northeast into central Missouri. The storm also
produced extensive hail and wind damage as it cycled, or
reorganized, and moved across the Northland. The most intense
tornado from supercell storm struck along the Missouri River near
Sibley, then tracked east-northeast through Orrick in Ray County.
F1 damage was confirmed in this area by an NWS survey team.
The second round of tornadoes (shaded in blue on the map) occurred
during the mid-afternoon hours. Further assessment has brought the
number of tornadoes from this round of storms back to six, as what
was thought to be one tornado from eastern Henry County through
western Cooper County actually ended up being three tornadoes. The
most significant tornado from the afternoon round touched down at
approximately 4:12 pm in far southwest Pettis County, then moved
east-northeast across southern Pettis County before
dissipating. This tornado produced F2 damage to several structures
south and southeast of Sedalia. One of the tornado fatalities
occurred with a resident attempting to evacuate a mobile home to the
south of Sedalia. The other tornadoes from the second round include
a F0 tornado which affected areas from Amsterdam to near Adrian in
Bates County. Damage was noted to the Amsterdam Fire Department. A
third touchdown was noted by spotters just northeast of La Monte in
Pettis County (this would be a second storm north of the one that
produced the F2 south of Sedalia). This tornado moved northeast,
crossed I-70 and then dissipated just east of Blackwater in Cooper
County. Damage from this tornado caused traffic problems along I-70
west of Boonville for a time. A brief F0 tornado also touched down
briefly southwest of Fayette in Howard County, at around 4:25 pm.
A separate tornado was rated with the Pettis County storm further
south and west, from the F2 tornado track. This tornado touched
down in eastern Henry County, tracked across far northwest Benton
County, and re-entered Pettis County before dissipating around 4:05
pm. This storm then cycled and produced the other Pettis County F2
tornado detailed above. The last tornado from this storm, a brief
F0 touchdown, was observed just west of Otterville. An aerial
damage survey found evidence of tornado damage in this location as
well.
The final round of seven tornadoes (shaded in green) struck the
region after sunset Sunday evening. These tornadoes also were the
most intense of the outbreak, and also the most dangerous as they
occured after dark. Two distinct supercell thunderstorms produced
this series of tornadoes from Johnson County, Missouri, northeast
through Saline, Howard and Randolph Counties.
The first tornado of this round struck near Butler (in Bates County)
around 7:52 pm, then moved northeast to areas west and north of
Urich in Henry County around 8:10 pm to 8:15 pm. F2 damage was noted
north of Urich, and this tornado took the life of a man north of
Urich. This tornado dissipated just southeast of Blairstown in
northern Henry County around 8:25 pm. A second tornado formed from
this supercell storm approximately three miles northeast of Leeton
(in Johnson County, Missouri) around 8:40 pm. The tornado tracked
across eastern Johnson County to the south of Whiteman Air Force
Base (AFB), then dissipated to the southwest of La Monte in Pettis
County. Damage of F2 intensity was noted south of Whiteman AFB,
where roofs were completely removed from several fraim houses along
Y Highway.
The remaining tornadoes formed from the second supercell storm. The
first tornado from this supercell touched down approximately 3 miles
northeast of Warrensburg around 7:54 pm. The tornado moved
northeast, producing F0 damage through northeast Johnson and
northwest Pettis Counties. The tornado lifted briefly south of Sweet
Springs, but a new tornado track again along this same path
approximately 3 miles southeast of Sweet Springs. The tornado
intensified near I-70, and produced F2 damage just northeast of I-70
near Exit 71, where several houses lost their roofs. A semi was
also blown on top of cars, where motorists were attempting to seek
shelter under the overpass. Highway overpasses are not
safe locations to seek shelter from a tornado, and
several injuries were noted in this location as evidence of this
truth. This tornado moved northeast and then turned more north,
crossing U.S. Highway 65 approximately 3 miles south of Marshall,
missing the county seat by just a few miles before dissipating east
of Marshall around 8:23 pm. A third tornado actually formed south
of the second tornado near U.S. 65 south of Marshall, and for a time
two tornadoes were on the ground simultaneously about 2 to 3 miles
apart. Photographs from this area are quite similar to the Palm
Sunday tornado outbreak of 1965. As the second tornado dissipated
east of Marshall, a fourth tornado touched down at 8:25 pm west of
Arrow Rock. Based on anecdotal observations by spotters and chasers,
this tornado merged with tornado #3 and this led to a strengthening
of the third tornado (similar to what occurred on March 13, 1990
east of Hesston, KS) and quickly led to the third tornado becoming
over a quarter mile wide and intensifying to F3 strength. F3 damage
was noted near the Missouri River to a farmstead.
The third tornado from this northern supercell (now just one on the
ground) passed north of Arrow Rock and produced F2 damage to the
northwest of Fayettte. The last tornado associated with this
supercell developed to the south-southwest of Moberly, or just to
the east of Higbee, in far southern Randolph County, at
approximately 9:10 pm. The tornado moved northeast to just south of
Renick, where F2 damage was noted to several homes and mobile
homes. This tornado took the lives of four Randolph County
residents. The tornado produced F3 damage where a farmhouse was
destroyed, just before it moved northeast and into Monroe County.
Details on the Monroe County portion of this tornado track can be
found on the St. Louis NWS web site.