Kansas City/Pleasant Hill, MO

Weather Forecast Office

May 16-17, 2015 Tornadoes and Wind

Overview

A multicellular thunderstorm complex that, generally, has a linear appearance (i.e., MCS, squall line) but also exhibits localized storm-scale vortices that can behave very similar to low-level mesocyclones and are capable of producing tornadoes called a quasi-linear convective system (QLCS) moved through east central Kansas and west central Missouri producing multiple QLCS tornadoes and significant damage associated with numerous mesovortices. Interestingly, there was a supercell ahead of the line that also produced a tornado. Also, this line of storms produced extreme rain rates and widespread flash flooding was reported throughout the Kansas City area.

Ahead of the advancing QLCS a supercell formed and produced a tornado in northern Jackson County, just southwest of Sibley, Missouri and barely missed the main part of the city just to the west. Although it remained mostly in rural parts of Jackson County it did impact some outbuildings and did plenty of tree damage to areas just west of Sibley. The tornado then moved across the Missouri River, into Ray County where it did impact a mobile home, ripped its support straps out of the ground, and wrapped it around a nearby tree. No one was occupying the residence at the time, so no injuries were reported. The tornado dissipated in rural Ray County, just northwest of Orrick.

The supercell that produced an EF-2 tornado near Sibley went on to produce a 2nd tornado near the city of Polo. It formed a few miles south of Polo in Ray County, producing some EF-1 damage to outbuildings in Ray County. The tornado then crossed into Caldwell County, and dissipated just east of Polo. Three other tornadoes occurred with this system and cause minor damage. One occurred in Bates County near Adrian. Another occurred near Clinton, Missouri, and earlier in the evening one briefly touched down in Lawson, Missouri. No injuries were reported with any of these tornadoes. Aside from the tornadoes, widespread wind damage occurred across the region from this line of convective storms.

Radar loop of the evening of May 16 into the overnight hours of May 17.

Notice the supercells ahead of the advancing squall line moving into Missouri from Kansas.

Visit the radar section below for closer details of some of the features from this system.

Click on image or here to enlarge.

Tornado
Wind
Flooding
Radar
Storm Reports

Tornadoes:

Sibley, Missouri Tornado
Jackson and Ray Counties

Date	May 16, 2015
Time (Local)	11:15 - 11:32 PM CDT
EF Rating	EF-2
Est. Peak Winds	127 mph
Path Length	10.1 miles
Max Width	250 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0
Summary: Ahead of the advancing QLCS a supercell formed and produced a tornado in northern Jackson County. It formed just southwest of Sibley, Missouri and barely missed the main part of the city just to the west. Although it remained mostly in rural parts of Jackson County it did impact some outbuildings and did plenty of tree damage to areas just west of Sibley. The tornado then moved across the Missouri River, into Ray County where it produced EF-2 damage, mainly to rural areas of the county. It did impact a mobile home, ripped its support straps out of the ground, and wrapped it around a nearby tree. No one was occupying the residence at the time, so no injuries were reported. The tornado dissipated in rural Ray County, just northwest of Orrick.

Track Map

Downloadable KMZ File


A mobile home was destroyed and nearby vehicles were tossed when an EF-2 tornado went through northern Jackson and southern Ray Counties. This mobile home was located in southwest Ray County, just north of the Missouri River.	This outbuilding was located near Sibley, just south of the Missouri river in far northern Jackson County.	This outbuilding was located northwest of Orrick, in southwest Ray County, just north of the Missouri River.

Polo, Missouri Tornado
Ray and Caldwell Counties

Date	May 16, 2015
Time (Local)	11:51 - 11:57 PM CDT
EF Rating	EF-1
Est. Peak Winds	97 mph
Path Length	3.4 miles
Max Width	100 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0
Summary: The supercell that produced an EF-2 tornado near Sibley went on to produce a 2nd tornado near the city of Polo. It formed a few miles south of Polo in Ray County, producing some EF-1 damage to outbuildings in Ray County. The tornado then crossed into Caldwell County, and dissipated just east of Polo.

Track Map

Downloadable KMZ File


This outbuilding was destroyed by an EF-1 tornado near the Caldwell and Ray County line, just south of Zimmerman Cemetery.	Outbuilding debris caused by an EF-1 tornado near the Caldwell and Ray County line, just south of Zimmerman Cemetery.	Trees damaged by an EF-1 tornado near the Caldwell and Ray County line, just south of Zimmerman Cemetery.

Lawson, Missouri Tornado
Ray County

Date	May 16, 2015
Time (Local)	9:35 - 9:37 PM CDT
EF Rating	EF-0
Est. Peak Winds	84 mph
Path Length	0.8 miles
Max Width	100 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0
Summary: Ahead of the advancing QLCS that was responsible for widespread wind damage a supercell formed, which caused a very brief and weak tornado that did some minor damage to residences and trees in Lawson.

Track Map

Adrian, Missouri Tornado
Bates County

Date	May 17, 2015
Time (Local)	12:05 AM CDT
EF Rating	EF-1
Est. Peak Winds	97 mph
Path Length	1.6 miles
Max Width	100 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0
Summary: A QLCS moved through western Missouri, producing several mesovortices along the leading edge. One of these mesovortices struck a few residences and produced some tree damage near Adrian.

Track Map

Clinton, Missouri Tornado
Henry County

Date	May 17, 2015
Time (Local)	12:48 - 12:57 AM CDT
EF Rating	EF-0
Est. Peak Winds	83 mph
Path Length	6 miles
Max Width	25 yards
Injuries/Deaths	0
Summary: A QLCS moved eastward through western Missouri, and produced several mesovortices along the leading edge. One of these mesovortices formed just southwest of Clinton and did some minor damage to some residences and trees in the city. The damage path of the mesovortex came to an end just northeast of Clinton in rural Henry County.

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

Wind:

Add a written summary or simply an LSR map in this section. If writing an extensive report, you can break the report down into wind and hail below (otherwise delete).

Strong winds knocked over several power poles near Excelsior Springs, MO

(Photo: Brandon McDaniel)

Strong winds caused some tree damage in Lee's Summit, MO

(Photo: Mark Schierholz)

This mobile home was destroyed when storms came through Adrian, MO. This damage was possibly caused by a tornado that was confirmed in the area.

Damage to a metal outbuilding in Adrian, MO. This damage was possibly caused by a tornado that was confirmed in the area.

(Photo: John Cameron)

Flooding:

The heavy rain produced areas of flash flooding across the region.

Flooding along the Crooked River, east of Lawson, MO

(Photo: Diana Willis)

Flooding in Excelsior Springs, MO

(Photo: Brandon McDaniel)

Kinball Road in Kingston, MO

(Photo: Kevin Adams)

Brushy Creek in Clinton County MO

(Photo: Tobey McMullen)

Radar:

Header


A supercell formed just east of Kansas City, and produced a tornado that caused EF-2 damage between Sibley and Orrick. The storm went on to produce a second tornado near Polo. This second tornado did not cause much damage, which was relegated to some tree damage in rural portions of Ray and Caldwell Counties.	As the squall line pushed into western Missouri, it produced several mesovortex tornadoes. These tornadoes are similar to their supercellular counterpart in that they produce winds over 100 mph, but are slightly different in how they form. These mesovortices can be seen inside the yellow circles, embedded within the squall line.

Storm Reports

Wind and flooding were the most prominent hazards from this system as it moved through the area.

Click on the image for an interactive damage report map.

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