— 21 Storm Prediction Center, NWS, NOAA. SPC Storm Reports for 5-10-2008.

— 21 Tornado Project Online. Recent Tornadoes, US Killer Tornadoes of 2008.

— 21 NWS. Mother’s Day Weekend Tornado in [OK and MO], May 10, 2008, Oct 2009, iv.

Missouri (15)

— 1 Barry Co., Purdy vic. NWS WFO Springfield, MO. “Tornadic Storms Hit…[SW MO].

— 1 Jasper Co., Carthage vic. NWS WFO Springfield, MO. “Tornadic Storms Hit…[SW MO].

— 1 Newton Co., Fairview vic. NWS WFO Springfield, MO. “Tornadic Storms Hit…[SW MO].

–12 Newton Co., Racine vic. NWS WFO Springfield, MO. “Tornadic Storms Hit…[SW MO].

Oklahoma ( 6)

— 6 Lawrence Journal-World, KS. “Dozens may be dead after Midwest storms.” 5-11-2008, 1.

— 6 Ottawa Co., Picher. NWS. Mother’s Day Weekend Tornado…May 10, 2008, 2009, p. 16.

— 6 Picher. NWS WFO Tulsa, OK. May 10, 2008 Severe Weather Outbreak. 4-5-2010 update.

General

NWS: “Mother’s Day Weekend, May 10-11, 2008, brought severe weather to many sections of the country. The greatest impact was in northeast Oklahoma and southwest Missouri. A tornado, rated EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, moved southeast from the town of Picher, Oklahoma, into southwest Missouri. The tornado caused 21 fatalities.” (Preface, p. iv.)

“Eighteen tornadoes touched down in the WFOs Tulsa and Springfield CWAs[1] on May 10, with 14 of those tornadoes affecting the Tulsa CWA. More than 460 severe weather events were reported during this outbreak, which stretched from eastern Oklahoma and Kansas to the southeast Atlantic Coast…

“This report focuses on one violent tornado that moved through northeast Oklahoma and southwest Missouri on Saturday, May 10, 2008…The tornado, which reached EF4, devastated the town of Picher, Oklahoma, resulting in six fatalities. The tornado continued into southwest Missouri, causing another 15 fatalities, the vast majority in Newton County, Missouri. All 21 fatalities for the event occurred where tornado watches and warnings were in effect….SPC[2] issued a tornado watch nearly 6 hours before the first tornado touchdown in the area. WFO Tulsa issued a tornado warning with a mean lead time of 14 minutes, and WFO Springfield followed by issuing a tornado warning with a mean lead time of 24 minutes. Both WFOs exceeded the 2008 Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) goal for tornado warning lead time (mean lead time), which was 11 minutes….” (p. 6.)

“The Picher-Newton County Supercell:

“The supercell that eventually moved through Picher, Oklahoma, and Newton County, Missouri (causing 21 fatalities), began around 4 p.m. Saturday, May 10, in northern Washington County, Oklahoma, near the Kansas border. It formed near the surface low pressure center and just ahead of the dryline. The storm moved east-northeast and merged with another thunderstorm (not a supercell) in Craig County, Oklahoma, along the Kansas-Oklahoma border at 5:17 p.m., intensifying rapidly by 5:21 p.m…The tornado touched down at 5:20 p.m. in WFO Tulsa’s CWA, 9 miles north northwest of Welch, Oklahoma.

“The tornado entered Picher, Oklahoma, around 5:40 p.m…The parent thunderstorm also started to move south of due east. In operational meteorology, this is called a “right turning” thunderstorm and is an indication a thunderstorm’s rotation has become strong enough to cause it to veer in a direction different from the ambient steering winds. Tornadoes form from the internal rotation of a thunderstorm. The stronger the rotation, the greater the chance a tornado can form and the greater the potential the tornado has to become strong. The “right turning” of this thunderstorm created some significant challenges in the decision-making of the WFOs and is discussed more in section 5.2. At 5:54 p.m., the tornado crossed the Oklahoma and Missouri border and entered into Newton County, Missouri (WFO Springfield’s CWA).” (pp. 7-8)

(NWS. Mother’s Day Weekend Tornado in [OK and MO], May 10, 2008, Oct 2009.)

Tornado Project: “A long-track EF-4 tornado [Enhanced Fujita Scale] moved east-southeast, destroying hundreds of homes in northeastern Oklahoma and southwest Missouri, killing 21 people and injuring more than 200. Six of the deaths were in the town of Picher, Ottawa County, Oklahoma. Pollution from lead mining had caused much of the town to be abandoned and the tornado probably caused the final blow to Picher’s existence as a town. In Missouri, 12 of the 15 deaths occurred at Racine, before the funnel passed just north of Neosho, crossing Newton and Barry Counties Five people were killed in a car as they were driving to a wedding. Another died seeking shelter in a car on the side of a road. A separate EF-1 tornado killed one person in Jasper County, Missouri when a tree fell on a trailer in Avilla.” (Tornado Project, US Killer Tornadoes of 2008.)

Oklahoma

NWS WFO, Tulsa: “Severe thunderstorms erupted across Eastern Oklahoma and Northwest Arkansas during the late afternoon and evening hours of May 10, 2008 as a cold front/dry line moved into the extremely moist and unstable airmass that was in place across the region. There were at least 11 tornadoes across the area with numerous hail and high wind reports. The most significant tornado occurred in Ottawa County, Oklahoma. This EF-4 Tornado caused extensive damage in the town of Picher, Oklahoma and resulted in 6 fatalities….” (NWS WFO, Tulsa. May 10, 2008 Severe Weather Outbreak. 4-5-2010 update.)

Sources

Lawrence Journal-World, KS. “Dozens may be dead after Midwest storms.” 5-11-2008, 1. Accessed at: http://newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=171100897

National Weather Service. Service Assessment. Mother’s Day Weekend Tornado in Oklahoma and Missouri, May 10, 2008. Silver Spring, MD: NWS, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Oct 2009, 38 pages. Accessed 6-27-2015 at: http://www.nws.noaa.gov/os/assessments/pdfs/mothers_day09.pdf

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, Springfield, MO. “…Tornadic Storms Hit Southeast Kansas and Southwest Missouri…” 9-22-2009 modification. Accessed 6-2-2012 at: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/sgf/?n=may10_2008_tornadoes

National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office, Tulsa, OK. May 10, 2008 Severe Weather Outbreak. 4-5-2010 update. http://www.srh.noaa.gov/tsa/?n=weather-event_may10_2008

Storm Prediction Center. SPC Storm Reports for 05/10/08. Norman, OK: SPC, National Weather Service, NOAA. Accessed at: http://www.spc.noaa.gov/climo/reports/080510_rpts.html

Tornado Project Online. Recent Tornadoes, US Killer Tornadoes of 2008. Accessed at: http://www.tornadoproject.com/

[1] County Warning Area.

[2] Storm Prediction Center.

2008 — May 10, Tornado, Northeast OK (Picher) and Southwest MO (esp. Racine area)–21