May 11th 2017 -- Newton Co. Tornado and Heavy Rain

Overview

A surface front, initially across northern Missouri, moved slowly southward as an upper level low over the southern Rockies made its way eastward into the Central Plains. The surface front became stationary as it approached the Missouri-Arkansas border. A very moist and unstable air mass south of the front set off several rounds of severe weather. One tornado touched down northwest of Neosho in Newton county during the overnight hours on Wednesday and several reports of strong winds and hail up to the size of golf balls were received from mid-morning into the late evening hours on Thursday.

Once the front became stationary during the day on Thursday, several waves of moderate to heavy rainfall made their way along the front. This produced a band of 1 to 2+ inch rainfall along and just north of the front.

Summary of Tornado (Red), Wind (Blue), and Hail (Green) Reports from the Storm Prediction Center for 11 May 2017

Tornado
Flooding
Radar

Tornadoes:

Tornado - 4 Miles NW of Neosho, MO (near Fredville)
NEWTON COUNTY

Date	05/11/2017
Time (Local)	12:34 AM CDT
EF Rating	EF-0
Est. Peak Winds	85 MPH
Path Length	1 Mile
Max Width	100 Yards
Injuries/Deaths	0/0
Summary: A brief EF-0 tornado touched down near the intersection of Gateway Drive and Jute Road northwest of Neosho. Several trees were uprooted, several homes had minor damage to roofs, and several outbuildings and sheds suffered damage or were destroyed.

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

Total rainfall amounts with this event ranged from around one-half to one inch over mainly southern Missouri to one and one-half to over two inches over far western Missouri and extreme southeast Kansas. The heaviest rainfall amounts occurred over an area roughly between US Highways 60 and 54.

This rain had fallen over previously saturated soils prompting two flash flood warnings and several areal flood warnings.

Radar:

Radar Loop from midnight CDT 11 May through midnight CDT 12 May 2017:

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