Tornado outbreak of October 17–19, 2007

October 2007 Tornado Outbreak

Duration	~32 hours
Tornadoes confirmed	16 confirmed, 47 reported
Max. rating1	EF3+ tornado
Fatalities	6
Damage	Unknown
Areas affected	Most of eastern and Central North America
1Most severe tornado damage; see Enhanced Fujita scale

The Mid-October 2007 Tornado Outbreak is a widespread tornado outbreak currently underway across the eastern half of North America starting on October 17, 2007. The outbreak is so far also responsible for the death of six people; three in Michigan, one in Kentucky and two in Missouri, plus many injuries - some non-tornadic. So far, at least 47 tornadoes were reported including 17 on October 17 across four states including Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Missouri with wind damage reported in Oklahoma, Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, Arkansas and Mississippi. On October 18, at least 30 tornadoes were reported across six states including Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Kentucky, Illinois and Michigan, plus widespread straight line wind damage.

Meteorological synopsis

A low pressure system moved across the Pacific Coast on October 15 and then crossed the Rockies during the following day and touched out some moist air from the Gulf of Mexico, major source for storm development and intensification. A dryline, which separates the drier air from the more moist and humid air formed ahead of the cold front across the Texas and Oklahoma Panhandles. The high humidity levels, wind shear (thus winds coming from the southwest in the western side of the storm and winds from the southeast on the eastern side of the storm) and the presence of the dry line helped developed the instability to produced severe thunderstorms across the Midwest and Southern Plains on October 17.

A moderate risk for severe weather was issued by the Storm Prediction Center two days prior to the event. The storm then moved across the most of the Midwest on October 18, where a moderate risk was in effect also for two days for most of Illinois, Indiana and parts of Kentucky although the moderate risk was revised further to the south and east to include western Ohio, western Tennessee, southeastern Missouri, northeastern Arkansas and larger portions of Kentucky while Michigan and Wisconsin were no longer under a moderate risk. A severe risk was forecast from central Ontario near Sudbury to the Florida Panhandle and Mobile Bay.

The storm is also forecast to hit much of eastern North America from central Quebec and Ontario (near Sault Ste. Marie to the Florida Panhandle on October 19 where most of the area is under a slight risk of severe weather while the Canadian Maritimes will be affected on October 20 although the weather dynamics will be less significant. The main threats of the storms were damaging wind, hail and possible tornadoes

The event

The first severe thunderstorms developped during the early morning of October 17 across much of northern and eastern Texas and parts of Oklahoma and Kansas with only one reported tornado in east Texas. Several severe thunderstorms then later developped across eastern Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, western Mississippi, eastern Kansas, Missouri and parts of Nebraska, Iowa, Kentucky, Illinois and Tennessee. 12 additionnal tornadoes were reported in Missouri and Louisiana during the late afternoon and early evening with damage reported in Lawrence and Greene counties in Missouri. One of the tornadoes located near Verona destroyed several barns and homes but did not cause any injuries and was later confirmed as an EF2. The storms persisted throughout the night and an additionnal tornado killed 2 people inside a mobile home in Greene County, Missouri near Paris.

On October 18, several thunderstorms already developed during the morning hours and continued to intensified during the afternoon. Just after 11:00 AM EDT, one tornado in downtown Pensacola, Florida caused some extensive damage to the roof of a Bapitist Church as well as portions of Cordova Mall but there were no reported injuries at the Church and daycare center . During the early evenings severe weather affected the Louisville, Kentucky Metro area in which tree damage and power outage were reported throughout the area and a possible tornado at around 7:00 PM EDT near the Crescent Hill area. One tree fell over a passing car but the motorist escaped injuries even he was trapped for several minutes inside. The Louisville power authority, the LG&E reported as much as 2 500 homes without power mostly in St. Matthews and Crescent Hill areas.. More storms rolled through much of the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys during the second half of the evening and overnight with more storms in Michigan.

Areas the hardest hit were along and near the Ohio River in western Kentucky as well as central Indiana in Nappanee where injuries were reported as well as significant damage , and in Central Michigan. Four people were killed overall on October 18, one in Kalkaska County, and two in Locke Township in Michigan another one in the Owensboro, Kentucky south of Evansville. In addition to the tornadoes, storm straight line damaging wind in excess of 60 mph (95 km/h) were recorded across several of the regions hit by the severe weather, causing extensive tree and power line with isolated reports of structural damage.

According to the National Weather Service in Detroit, tornadoes this late in the year in Michigan are very rare. The last significant October tornado event was on October 24, 2001 were 3 tornadoes hit the southern part of Lower Michigan. Only 7 tornadoes were reported over the state in october between 1950 and 2006 including the 2001 tornadoes.

Tornadoes confirmed

Confirmed tornadoes by Enhanced Fujita rating

EFU	EF0	EF1	EF2	EF3	EF4	EF5	Total
0	5	7	3	1	0	0	16

October 17 event

List of reported tornadoes - Wednesday, October 17, 2007
F#	Location	County	Time (UTC)	Path length	Damage
Texas
EF?	SW of Buna	Jasper	1529
Missouri
EF?	W of Centerview	Johnson	2105
EF2	N of Verona	Lawrence	2250	11 miles (17 km)	Intermittent damage path. Nine houses damaged or destroyed, along with a lumber mill and several barns.
EF?	Mount Vernon	Lawrence	2256		Tornado with debris reported
EF?	SW of Chesapeake	Lawrence	2300
EF?	NNE of Ash Grove	Greene	2315
EF?	N of Halltown	Lawrence	2321		Tornado with debris reported
EF1	N of Cave Springs	Greene	2335	3 miles (4.8 km)	Two houses and a barn were damaged or destroyed.
EF?	W of Willard	Greene	2344
EF?	S of Morrisville	Polk	2346
EF0	S of Lebanon	Laclede	0435	unknown	Damage reported to a mobile home and the roof of a house.
EF2	NW of Paris	Monroe	0505	4 miles (6.4 km)	2 deaths - A mobile home was thrown, killing its occupants. A large barn and machine shed were also destroyed.
EF0	N of Paris	Monroe	0507	2 miles (3.2 km)	Damage to trees and a machine shed.
Louisiana
EF?	Franklinton	Washington	2245		A furniture store suffered roof damage.
EF?	NW of Franklinton	Washington	2300
EF?	NW of Franklinton	Washington	2300		One trailer suffered some damage
Arkansas
EF1	W of Star City	Lincoln	2302	5.4 miles (8.6 km)	Six mobile homes were damaged or destroyed and four houses sustained minor damage. Widespread tree and power line damage.
Mississippi
EF1	N of Hattiesburg	Forrest	0110	1.5 miles (2.4 km)	Tornado began at Exit 69 on I-59, where a car was blown off injuring the occupant. Roof damage was reported to two houses and a garage.
Sources: Storm reports of October 17, 2007 NWS Springfield, NWS St. Louis, NWS Little Rock, NWS Jackson MS

October 18 event

List of reported tornadoes - Thursday, October 18, 2007
F#	Location	County	Time (UTC)	Path length	Damage
Mississippi
EF2	W of Vancleave	Jackson	1045	1.8 miles (3 km)	One mobile home was destroyed, along with numerous outbuildings. Heavy tree and power line damage.
EF?	Starkville	Oktibbeha	1805		A building at the Starkville Country Club was damaged
Florida
EF1	Pensacola	Escambia	1513	7 miles (11 km)	Tornado first touched down in downtown Pensacola also damaged a commercial area, especially Cordova Mall. Four people were injured.
Alabama
EF?	SW of Sulligent	Lamar	1815		Individual took a picture of tornado on the ground
Kentucky
EF?	Clay area	Webster	2155
EF?	W of Mayfield	Graves	2305		Confirmed tornado
EF?	Owensboro	Daviess	2328		1 death - Major damage according to WFIE.
EF?	NW of Hawesville	Hancock	0012
EF?	W of Sebre	Webster	0019
EF?	Dawson Springs	Hopkins	0040
EF?	NW of Hopkinsville	Christian	0045		Damage and injuries reported
EF?	Nortonville	Hopkins	0100		Severe damage to several buildings
EF?	S of Dawson Springs	Caldwell	0109		Confirmed tornado with individuals trapped inside a mobile home
EF?	W of Hopkinsville	Christian	0144		Unconfirmed tornado heading towards downtown Hopkinsville.
EF0	N of Shepherdsville	Bullitt	0319	0.25 mile (400 m)	Narrow damage path primarily damaging outbuildings and sheds.
EF1	NE of Shepherdsville	Bullitt	0324	0.75 mile (1.2 km)	Significant damage to two houses and one garage.
Michigan
EF?	Black Lake	Cheboygan	2200		Confirmed touchdown
EF?	NW of Lachine	Alpena	2226
EF?	NNE of Long Rapids	Alpena	2240
EF?	SW of Kalkaska	Kalkaska	2340		1 death
EF?	E of Luzerne	Oscoda	0030
EF?	SE of Williamston	Ingham	0231		2 deaths - Two people were found the following morning after they being thrown out of their modular home. Overturned semi on I-96 before continuing into Williamston. According to NWS, the tornado may had winds of about EF2 strength, but rating not official but roofs of home were completely removed are severely damaged.
EF1	SSE of Perry	Shiawassee	0252	2 miles (3.2 km)	Reported by law enforcement. According to NWS, tornado was a continuation of the Williamston/Ingham County tornado (see above)
EF1	SSW of Millington	Tuscola	0515	2 miles (3.2 km)	Reported by law enforcement. According to the Associated Press, a year-old baby inside his crib was thrown 40 feet by the tornado but escaped injuries in Millington Township.
EF0	E of Clio	Genesee	0516	2.5 miles (4 km)	Shingle damage to one home
EF?	W of Deford	Tuscola	0545		SPC Storm Reports web page listed tornado twice; second listing was erroneous duplication of report with incorrect location; NWS Detroit damage survey report and storm report list does not include duplicate report.
Illinois
EF?	Mulberry Grove	Bond	2220
EF?	NW of Brownstown	Fayette	2235
Indiana
EF0	NW of Sidney	Kosciusko	0000	unknown	Tornado confirmed but no damage found.
EF?	N of Ambia	Benton	0035
EF3	Nappanee area	Marshall, Kosciusko, Elkhart	0218	20 miles (32 km)	Long-track tornado damaged or destroyed over 150 houses and businesses in the south and east sides of town, including several fast food restaurants and the Gulfstream manufacturing plant.
EF?	New Washington	Clark	unknown		Police reported that a carport was destroyed by an apparent touchdown (Courtesy of WLKY in Louisville, Kentucky)
Sources: Storm reports of October 18, 2007, NWS Gaylord, NWS Northern Indiana, NWS Louisville, NWS Mobile, NWS New Orleans

Nontornadic events

Radar shot of a bow echo crossing the Wichita area at 6:00 PM CDT on October 17, 2007. (Courtesy of NWS Wichita, KS)

In addition to the tornadoes, widespread straight-line wind damage took place across much of the affected region, particularly on the night of October 17 as a result of a derecho that moved across the southern Great Plains into the Ozarks. Winds were reported as high as 100 mph (160 km/h) as a result of the bow echo that moved across the region. Tulsa was hard hit, with at least 55 people injured (one critically) due to wind damage at the Oktoberfest event. Many mobile homes were destroyed, and widespread power outages were reported in the region including in Rogers County near Oologah where 5 people where injured.

In Kansas, a bow echo caused some localized significant damage in and around the Wichita Metropolitan Area with the most significant one was at the International Cold Storage located in the Andover area where the peak winds were measured. Overall, over 400 wind reports in the US alone, were reported on both October 17 and 18 across the Midwest, Gulf Coast and Great Lakes with several reports of damage but there were no direct non-tornadic fatalities.

See also

• Tornadoes of 2007

External links

• Storm Damage Images in the Louisville area in surroundings (Courtesy of WLKY 32 in Louisville, Kentucky)
• Storm Reports from the NWS Little Rock, Arkansas coverage area
• Storm Summary from NWS Tulsa, Oklahoma
• Storm Reports from the NWS Paducah, Kentucky coverage area