A tornado-producing supercell thunderstorm spinning over ranch land at sunset near Leoti, Kansas
Photo Courtesy: Envato Elements

Tornado Watch Issued for Large Portion of the Ozarks

4:55 p.m. UPDATE: A Severe Thunderstorm Warning is in effect until 5:15 p.m. for southeastern Ozark County and southern Howell County. The National Weather Service says the storm is moving northeast at 75 miles per hour. 60 mile per hour winds and quarter size hail are possible.

4:14 p.m. UPDATE: Areas along the I-49 corridor have had damaging wind gusts outside of thunderstorms reported Friday afternoon, including a 71 mile per hour gust reported near Airport Drive in Jasper County. The county is getting multiple reports of trees down, as well as power lines, electric poles and telephone poles across roads from Asbury to Carthage due to high winds. Golden City, Neosho and Sarcoxie have also reported trees uprooted or snapped and roofs blown off.

3:55 p.m. UPDATE: 12 minutes after the warning was issued, the National Weather Service has cancelled the Severe Thunderstorm Warning for parts of Webster, Wright and Laclede Counties because the storm has weakened below severe limits.

3:41 p.m. UPDATE: The National Weather Service has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for northeastern Webster, northern Wright and southern Laclede County until 4:30 p.m. Friday. A severe thunderstorm over Marshfield was moving northeast at 70 miles per hour. Locations impacted include Marshfield, Conway, Niangua, Competition, Twin Bridges, Rader, Lynchburg and Grovespring.

2:30 p.m. UPDATE: The National Weather Service says the greatest threat for severe weather over the next 1-2 hours has moved to storms moving across Stockton, Pomme De Terre and Truman Lakes area northward into central Missouri. Additional storms will develop and move into south central Missouri as well.

1:55 p.m. UPDATE: The National Weather Service has issued a Severe Thunderstorm Warning for northwestern Cedar, St. Clair and northeastern Vernon Counties until 2:30 p.m. Friday. These storms are capable of producing 60 mile per hour wind gusts and quarter size hail as they move through El Dorado Springs, Osceola, Lowry City, Collins, Cedar Springs and along Truman Lake.

1:35 p.m. UPDATE: The Severe Thunderstorm Warning for Vernon County has been cancelled as the storms have moved out of the area.

1:30 p.m. UPDATE: The Barton County portion of the Severe Thunderstorm Warning has been cancelled.

1:29 p.m. UPDATE: A Severe Thunderstorm Warning is in effect until 1:45 p.m. Friday for north central Barton and southeastern Vernon Counties to the northwest of Springfield. 60 mile per hour winds and quarter size hail are possible as the storm moves through Nevada and Sheldon.

1:05 p.m. UPDATE: The Severe Thunderstorm Warning for southeastern Ozark and central/east central Howell Counties has been cancelled.

12:35 p.m. UPDATE: The National Weather Service has issued a Tornado Watch until 8 p.m. Friday for the eastern Ozarks, including Webster, Dallas, Douglas, Hickory, Howell, Laclede, Ozark, Taney, and Wright Counties. Conditions are favorable for the development of tornadoes in and around the watch area. This is a particularly dangerous situation!

12:15 p.m. UPDATE: A Severe Thunderstorm Warning is in effect until 1:00 p.m. for southeastern Ozark and Howell Counties. 60 mile per hour wind gusts and quarter size hail are possible with these storms as they move through Bakersfield, West Plains and Mountain View.

Thunderstorms will develop in the Ozarks Friday morning and move through the area quickly through the afternoon, with the highest risk for severe weather east of a line from Osage Beach to West Plains.

The National Weather Service says hail up to the size of golf balls, damaging winds of 70 miles per hour and a few tornadoes are possible as storms race from west to east.

Areas along and east of Highway 63 in south central and southeast Missouri will have a significant tornado threat for an EF2+ twister.

The best chances for golf ball size hail will be along and north of a Nevada to Lebanon line.

There is a low flooding potential with this system.

Outside of any thunderstorms, wind gusts could reach dangerous levels in parts of southwest Missouri Friday.

Areas west of Springfield are under a “High Wind Warning” through Saturday morning, with maximum wind gusts as high as 45 to 60 miles per hour.

With winds that high, loose objects will be blown around and scattered power outages are expected.

The entire Ozarks is under a Wind Advisory. Use caution if traveling in high profile vehicles.

We’ll have the latest watches and warnings on 93-3 A-M 560 KWTO.

The National Weather Service has issued a Tornado Watch for a number of areas east of Springfield.

According to the Storm Prediction Center, the following counties in Missouri are under the Tornado Watch until 8:00 p.m.

  • Camden County
  • Dallas County
  • Dent County
  • Douglas County
  • Hickory County
  • Howell County
  • Laclede County
  • Maries County
  • Miller County
  • Morgan County
  • Oregon County
  • Ozark County
  • Phelps County
  • Pulaski County
  • Shannon County
  • Taney County
  • Texas County
  • Webster County
  • Wright County