How many tornadoes touched down in Missouri in severe weather outbreak?

Robert A. Cronkleton, The Kansas City Star on Apr 3, 2025

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Severe weather spawned dozens of reported tornadoes in the past 48 hours, with about a third of them occurring in Kansas and Missouri, according to preliminary reports.

The tornadoes, some of which were deadly, left a path of destruction from the south to the Great Lakes, destroying homes, overturning vehicles, and downing power lines.

The National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center noted that there were over 30 reports of tornadoes on Wednesday alone, with 11 of those in Missouri.

In the Kansas City area, the National Weather Service reported that a pair of tornadoes touched down Wednesday morning, including an EF2 tornado in Pilot Grove in Cooper County.

The tornado touched down at approximately 8:34 a.m., just southwest of Pilot Grove, causing minor damage to a farm’s outbuilding. It remained on the ground for approximately 6 minutes, traveling northeast for about 6.4 miles before lifting off at Interstate 70. The estimated peak wind speed was 135 mph, with a maximum width of 200 yards.

The tornado damaged several buildings and homes, uprooted large trees, and ripped a manufactured home off its cinder blocks, destroying it, according to the weather service. There were no injuries.

The other tornado, an EF0, touched down at approximately 7:02 a.m. in a field northeast of Butler in Bates County. The tornado was on the ground for about seven minutes and traveled about five miles before lifting about four miles south of Ballard, Missouri. It had a maximum width of 50 yards.

The storm damaged some power poles, trees, empty grain bins and an outbuilding, according to the weather service. There were no injuries.

Meanwhile, a third tornado sent residents of the small town of Nevada, Missouri, scrambling for cover. The tornado ripped up trees, damaged buildings, and shattered glass as it roared through the city, leaving substantial damage in its wake, officials said.

A survey team from the National Weather Service in Springfield found that the tornado touched down about 7:32 a.m., southwest of Moundville, and traveled northwest through Nevada before lifting northwest of Walker Township. In addition to the damage in Nevada, the tornado knocked over eight train cars. Numerous businesses sustained varying degrees of damage.

One person was injured in the tornado.

The National Weather Service in St. Louis said it would send out survey teams on Thursday to investigate damage from tornadoes near Potosi, Missouri, and Greenville, Illinois.

The tornadoes were among the three dozen tornadoes reported from severe weather over the past two days. Here’s a look at preliminary tornado reports for the past 48 hours as of 10:30 Wednesday. The number of tornadoes is subject to change once survey crews survey for damage.

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(The Star’s Nathan Pilling and Tammy Ljungblad provided information for this story.)