January 7th 2008 Tornado Outbreak

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January 7th 2008 Severe Weather / Tornado Outbreak

The first severe weather outbreak of 2008 occurred unusually early across the Midwest, with reports of large hail, damaging winds, and tornadoes being reported from Oklahoma to Michigan. Strong tornadoes were reported across southwest Missouri, northeast Illinois, and southeast Wisconsin. Tornadoes are extremely rare in Wisconsin in January. Between 1950 and 2007, only one tornado had been recorded in the month of January, an F3 tornado that hit on January 24, 1967. That tornado in south central Wisconsin was part of a much larger outbreak of 30 tornadoes across Iowa, Illinois and Missouri. Unfortunately, tornadoes are not so rare across the bi-state region, with some of the most violent tornadoes having occurred during the winter months. In fact, an F4 tornado hit St. Louis County on January 24, 1967. A total of 48 tornadoes have been surveyed by the National Weather Service for this tornado outbreak. Two fatalities and around 30 injuries were reported. Below are damage track maps from each of the local weather offices that surveyed tornado damage paths. If you click on the map image you will be directed to each office's webpage that will provide additional information, photos, and radar displays of the event. This page will be updated as more information becomes available...
	Northeast Oklahoma 6 Tornadoes
	Southwest Missouri 33 Tornadoes 2 Fatalities ~ 10 Injuries
	Central Missouri to West Central Illinois 4 Tornadoes
	Central Illinois 2 Tornadoes 1 Injury
	Northern Illinois EF3 Tornado 4 Injuries
	Southeast Wisconsin EF3 Wheatland Tornado EF1 Kenosha Tornado 15 Injuries

January 7th 2008 Severe Weather / Tornado Outbreak
WEAK TORNADOES OCCURRED OVER PARTS OF SOUTHERN AUDRAIN, SOUTHEAST PIKE MISSOURI, SOUTHWEST PIKE ILLINOIS, AND GASCONADE COUNTIES JANUARY 7TH. PERSONNEL FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE SURVEYED PORTIONS OF CALLAWAY...AUDRAIN...PIKE MISSOURI AND PIKE COUNTY IN ILLINOIS DURING THIS PAST WEEK. A TORNADO OCCURRED AT 3:55 PM CST APPROXIMATELY 0.5 MILE NORTH OF THE AUDRAIN-CALLAWAY COUNTY LINE OR 8 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF MEXICO MISSOURI. THE TORNADO DAMAGED ONE MACHINE SHED AND SEVERAL TREES AND LARGE LIMBS. THE PATH LENGTH OF THE TORNADIC DAMAGE WAS 1/3 MILE WHILE THE PATH WIDTH WAS 30 TO 40 YARDS WIDE. THE DAMAGE WAS RATED EF0. DAMAGING DOWNBURST WINDS OCCURRED IN A AREA SOUTHWEST OF THE TORNADO DAMAGE OVER NORTHERN CALLAWAY COUNTY APPROXIMATELY 3.5 MILES NORTHWEST OF AUXVASSE MISSOURI. A FEW LARGE TREES AND SEVERAL LARGE TREE LIMBS WERE DOWN OVER THIS AREA. THE TORNADIC AND WIND DAMAGE WAS ASSOCIATED WITH A BOW ECHO. A LARGE AREA OF DOWNBURST WINDS WITH ESTIMATED WIND SPEEDS OF 50 TO 60 MPH OCCURRED FROM SOUTH CENTRAL THROUGH EASTERN AUDRAIN COUNTY. SCATTERED LARGE TREE LIMB DAMAGE WAS NOTED OVER THIS AREA OF AUDRAIN COUNTY. THE WIND DAMAGE OCCURRED BETWEEN 4:00 AND 4:25 PM CST AND WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SAME BOW ECHO STORM. ADDITIONAL DAMAGING DOWNBURST WINDS OCCUR OVER PARTS OF SOUTHEAST PIKE COUNTY MISSOURI AND SOUTHWEST PIKE AND NORTHERN CALHOUN COUNTIES IN ILLINOIS. A FEW TREES AND SEVERAL LARGE LIMBS WERE DOWN OVER THIS AREA. AN INTENSE MICROBURST CAUSED LARGE LIMB AND TREE DAMAGE 0.5 TO 1.5 MILES SOUTH OF THE TOWN OF NEBO ILLINOIS OVER SOUTHERN PIKE COUNTY. THE TIME OF DOWNBURST WIND DAMAGE OVER THIS AREA OCCURRED APPROXIMATELY BETWEEN 4:50 AND 5:10 PM CST. THIS AREA OF WIND DAMAGE WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THE SAME BOW ECHO SYSTEM THAT CAUSED WIND DAMAGE IN AUDRAIN COUNTY. THE FIRST OF TWO TORNADOES ASSOCIATED WITH A SUPERCELL STORM TOUCHED DOWN NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF COUNTY ROADS 116 AND 119 OR 6 MILES SOUTH OF LOUISIANA MISSOURI AT 8:30 PM CST. THIS TORNADO SKIPPED ACROSS THE HILLSIDES AND VALLEYS OF EASTERN PIKE COUNTY MISSOURI DAMAGING TREES AND LARGE LIMBS ALONG IT PATH. THE TOTAL PATH LENGTH WAS 5 MILES WHILE PATH WIDTH WAS 30 TO 40 YARDS WIDE. THE DAMAGE WAS RATED EF0. THE SECOND TORNADO WITH THIS SUPERCELL TOUCH DOWN ON HIGHWAY 96 2 MILES SOUTHEAST OF PLEASANT HILL ILLINOIS AT APPROXIMATELY 8:40 PM CST. THIS TORNADIC DAMAGE TRACK ALSO WAS NOT A CONTINUOUS AND ENDED 300 YARDS NORTH OF NEBO ILLINOIS. MEDIUM SIZE TREE LIMBS AND TREES WERE DOWNED BY THIS TORNADO. THE TOTAL DAMAGE TRACK WAS 2 AND 3/4 MILE AND 30 TO 40 YARDS WIDE. THE DAMAGE WAS RATED EF0 ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE. A SHORT TORNADO TRACK WAS FOUND AROUND 5 1/2 MILES SOUTH OF MOUNT STERLING...JUST WEST OF THE INTERSECTION OF ROUTE A AND Y. THE TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN AROUND 750 PM ALONG THE WEST BANK OF CRIDER CREEK. THE TORNADO THEN MOVED NORTH NORTHEAST ACROSS THE CREEK ONTO THE EAST BANK AND DISSIPATED IN AN OPEN FIELD. DAMAGE CONSISTED OF SEVERAL UPROOTED TREES ALONG WITH A NUMBER OF SNAPPED TREES AND TREE BRANCHES. THE TOTAL DAMAGE PATH WAS 1/4 MILE IN LENGTH WITH A MAXIMUM WIDTH OF 50 YARDS. THIS DAMAGE WAS RATED EF0 ON THE ENHANCED FUJITA SCALE. OTHER ISOLATED NON-TORNADIC TREE DAMAGE WAS FOUND ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN GASCONADE AND SOUTHEAST OSAGE COUNTY.
Click Here For The Preliminary Local Storm Reports From January 7th 2008

Pike County, Missouri and Pike County, Illinois



Audrain County, Missouri



Audrain and Montgomery County, Missouri


Gasconade County, Missouri

Central Missouri to West Central Illinois Supercell and Bow Echo Radar Imagery

3:41 PM (21:41 UTC)	3:59 PM (21:59 UTC)	4:16 PM (22:16 UTC)	4:33 PM (22:33 UTC)


4:50 PM (22:50 UTC)	5:07 PM (23:07 UTC)	5:24 PM (23:24 UTC)	5:41 PM (23:41 UTC)

Gasconade County Supercell Radar Imagery
		9:10 PM (03:10 UTC January 8th 2008)
		9:23 PM (03:23 UTC January 8th 2008)
		9:36 PM (3:36 UTC January 8th 2008)

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Page last modified: October 19th 2009 2:38 PM