The following is the Top 10 Weather/Climate Events of 2014 affecting the WFO Springfield’s area of responsibility. We would like to thank our partners in the media and the Emergency Management community for their assistance in compiling this list. 1. April 27 Tornadoes and severe storms. A strong slow moving storm moved into the Central Plains. Initially strong to occasionally severe storms developed late Saturday night and Sunday from northeast Oklahoma and Kansas into parts of Missouri. Late Sunday afternoon, storms developed along a dryline over northeast Oklahoma and eastern Kansas and quickly became supercells. Confirmed tornadoes hit Baxter Springs, Kansas (EF2) as well as an area near Fulton, Kansas northeast of Fort Scott (EF1). 2. January 5 heavy snow event. Heavy snow occurred across the Missouri Ozarks and extreme southeast Kansas. The heaviest snowfall occurred along the Interstate 44 corridor where 7 to 12 inches of snow fell. Gusty northwest winds of 20 to 35 mph at times caused significant blowing and drifting of snow throughout the area. Temperatures fell throughout the day into the teens for all locations by the mid afternoon with wind chills hitting the single digits above and below zero throughout the event. 3. June 4-7 damaging winds/flooding. A series of convective complexes and smaller clusters brought multiple rounds of severe weather along with localized flash flooding and river flooding. The most significant event occurred during the morning of June 5 warning when a large MCS pushed across the region producing numerous reports of wind damage. A Hotel roof collapse in Branson at Green Briar Inn – No injuries. Several boat docks were damaged on Table Rock Lake just west of Lampe and significant Flash Flooding occurred in Lawrence / Jasper / McDonald Counties. There were several water rescues in McDonald County. 4. March 1-3 winter storm. Storm total sleet and snow accumulations varied considerably across the Ozarks with portions of central Missouri receiving very little snowfall. In contrast, areas along and south of U.S. Highway 60 saw 3-6, with localized amounts approaching 8 across far southwestern Missouri. Meanwhile, ice accumulations across the area were held down due to a fairly quick changeover to sleet. Most areas saw a thin glaze of ice, with a few reports of around 1/8 of freezing rain across south-central Missouri. 5. Feb 4 widespread strong winds. A storm system brought widespread strong winds (45 mph to 63 mph) to the Ozarks and southeast. Some peak winds were 63 MPH AT THE Rolla national Airport and 62 mph at the Springfield/Branson National Airport. 6. September 1-2 localized severe with a few tornadoes. The most intense storm was with a line segment that tracked across far southeast Cherokee County Kansas into central and northern Newton County and southern Lawrence County. This line segment produced straight line winds of 75 to 80 mph along with three small spin-up tornadoes in northern Newton County. Significant wind damage occurred in Newton County with numerous trees and power lines down and some structural damage. RV campers overturned in Riverbend campground near Reddings Mill resulted in one injury. Surveys found two EF-1 and one EF-0 tornadoes in northern Newton County. 7. March 16-17 strong winds, heavy rain and snow. Strong winds developed early Sunday(3/16) morning with gusts of 35 to 45 mph as the low strengthened over Arkansas. Occasional heavy rainfall developed Saturday night and continue into Sunday. As colder air pushed in from the north during the morning into early afternoon Sunday, the rain gradually changed to some sleet and then snow. The highest precipitation and snow totals occurred across southern Missouri. Snow and sleet accumulations were 1 to 4 inches, while rainfall amounts ranged from ½ to 2½ inches. 8. April 13 severe storms with 60 mph to 70 mph winds. Initially, storms were producing 60 to 70 mph winds over eastern Kansas and far western Missouri where there was better instability. As the storms progressed eastward across the Missouri Ozarks during the evening, they became less organized as they encountered less instability and eventually sub-severe with wind gusts less than 60 mph. 9. January 12 high winds. A tight pressure gradient over the area caused strong gusty winds to develop across areas of southeast Kansas and southwest Missouri. Wind gusts reached over 50 mph at some locations. Highest measured wind gusts were 53 mph and both Joplin Missouri and Pittsburg Kansas. 10. May 8 severe storms. A large area of generally stratiform type rainfall with some embedded thunderstorms developed over eastern Oklahoma during the morning hours of May 8th, 2014. This activity then shifted northeast into the Missouri Ozarks during the afternoon hours. The storms did not develop very high into the atmosphere due to a lack of instability and deep shear. However, enough low level shear was present for a couple of the storms to produce a couple of weak tornadoes. One near Butterfield, Missouri (EF0) and another northwest of Ava, Missouri (EF1).
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 00:59:52 +0000
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