Long-Lived Tornado Lashes Three States Wednesday Night!
The active week of severe weather continued on Wednesday and Thursday with more tornadoes, large hail, and damaging winds. The total tally of tornado reports for the week is up to 130 and still counting! One tornadic supercell was particularly long-lived, dropping killer tornadoes from northeast Oklahoma through southeast Kansas and across central Missouri Wednesday evening.
This was the home of 86-year-old Gene Harris and his 83-year-old wife, Opal. They were killed by the tornado that hit near Golden City, MO Wednesday night. pic.twitter.com/jQg3fLxU4y
— Bianca Beltrán (@KMBCBianca) May 23, 2019
WATCH: Deadly storms hit Missouri Wednesday night, including a “violent tornado” that caused catastrophic damage in the state’s capitol https://t.co/2QbrwKmLfS pic.twitter.com/2KrWPTZmG0
— CBS News (@CBSNews) May 23, 2019
The storm in question developed early Wednesday evening just north of Tulsa. Its first tornado was observed just before 8 pm CT near Welch, OK. Initially it was a relatively weak twister that soon clipped far southeastern Kansas. The storm gained strength as it crossed into southwest Missouri, however. National Weather Service employees found category three damage on the Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale between Carl Junction and Golden City, MO. That’s consistent with wind speeds of 140-160 mph (230-260 kph)! The tornado claimed three lives in Golden City on Wednesday. Coincidentally, it was the eighth anniversary of the infamous EF-5 twister that took 160 lives in nearby Joplin.
The supercell weakened somewhat for a few hours as it rolled towards central Missouri. However, ominous signs of increasing rotation began to appear on radar after 11 pm as the storm approached the state capital of Jefferson City. Sure enough, another monster tornado soon developed, ripping across eastern and southern portions of the city. Banks, homes, businesses, and schools were all destroyed with almost a dozen serious injuries, although fortunately no deaths. Survey teams have found damage of high-end EF-3 rating so far with analysis continuing.
