NOAA

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office

Paducah, KY

• Home
• Site Map
• News
• Organization
• Search for: NWS All NOAA 

Southeast Missouri Tornadoes - April 24, 2004

---

Two tornadoes were confirmed by a National Weather Service damage survey in southeast Missouri. Both of the tornadoes occurred northwest of Poplar Bluff during the late afternoon hours. The following map displays their approximate paths. A third tornado was discovered several days later in rural areas of western Cape Girardeau County. For damage survey information on the Cape Girardeau County F-2 tornado, click here.

Details of the F-2 Tornado near Ellsinore, between Poplar Bluff and Van Buren:

* ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WINDS:  150 MPH

* ESTIMATED TIME:  TORNADO FORMED IN CARTER COUNTY AT APPROXIMATELY   512 PM AND REMAINED ON THE GROUND UNTIL APPROXIMATELY 530 PM.

* EVENT LOCATION:  FROM 1 MILE SOUTH OF US HWY 60 AND COUNTY HWY   233 IN EASTERN CARTER COUNTY...T0 1 MILE WEST OF THE TOWN OF   ELSINORE IN EASTERN CARTER COUNTY TO JUST INSIDE THE CARTER/WAYNE   COUNTY LINE ON COUNTY ROAD 365.

* DAMAGE AREA DIMENSIONS:  AVERAGE = 1/10 OF A MILE WIDE
                                     7 2/3 MILES LONG

* INJURIES: 5

* DEATHS:  NONE

* DAMAGE:  TREES AND POWERLINES DOWN, MOBILE HOMES DESTROYED. CLICK ON PHOTOS BELOW FOR FULL SIZE PICTURES.

 

Details of the F-1 Tornado near Patterson, to the west of Greenville:

* ESTIMATED MAXIMUM WINDS:  100 MPH

* ESTIMATED TIME:  TORNADO FORMED IN WAYNE COUNTY AT APPROXIMATELY   552 PM AND REMAINED ON THE GROUND UNTIL APPROXIMATELY 558 PM.

* EVENT LOCATION:  FROM 4 MILES SOUTH OF PATTERSON ON HWY "B" TO   PATTERSON AT THE JUNCTION OF HWY 34 AND "FF".

* DAMAGE AREA DIMENSIONS:  AVERAGE = 100 YARDS WIDE
                                     4 MILES LONG

* INJURIES: 0

* DEATHS:  NONE

* DAMAGE:  TREES AND POWERLINES DOWN, ROOF DAMAGE TO SEVERAL HOMES AND BUSINESSES. SEE PHOTOS BELOW....CLICK FOR FULL SIZE.

Below is a photo of a barn destroyed by a thunderstorm in Cape Girardeau County. The exact location is on County Road 365 near Tilsit, Missouri,  about 7 miles southwest of Jackson. Photo courtesy of Charlie Griffith.

Tornado Watch 118 was issued from 12:10 P.M. until 8 P.M. for most of southeast Missouri. A second Tornado Watch, Number 120, was issued from 6:40 P.M. until midnight for most of southeast Missouri, southern Illinois, western Kentucky, and southwest Indiana. A warm front extended from southern Missouri east across western Kentucky during this event. As the storms developed and moved across this frontal boundary, they became tornadic across southeast Missouri.