3/12/06 NOW: KS/MO

[Sam Sagnella]

WILL & Bloomington EMA reporting a tornado on the ground in Farmers City IL (extreme NE DeWitt County) -- so the everlasting supercell continues to produce tornadoes.

 

[nickgrillo]

Chased the Springfield tornadic supercell as well today... Got the tornado, although relatively meager video. I got pretty close to it, too...

Out of all the supercells that I've seen, the inflow on this was the strongest, by far. It was insane... Details and pics later.

 

[Chris Allington]

As if two Springfields in one day wouldnt be good enough the storm on track to hit SGF actually seems to be intensifying, look at the appeandage/ hook wrap around in the past couple scans with a new couplet forming at its point. hopefully it will have to cycle again before reaching the city... it also seems that the storm in extreme NW AK may be on track to impact Branson, MO within the next couple of hours.

 

[Scott Bell]

there are reports of damage in bentonville, AR area...this storm is moving towards the Branson, MO area next and is the tail end storm...

 

[Kevin Bowman]

Originally posted by Mike Peregrine
I just had a really unsettling conversation with Darin ... he and Dick are back on the interstate after chasing a large wedge tornado - - while we were talking they came across a damage path that sounds pretty extensive. Unfortunately there was a semi tractor/trailer that had been picked up and fell on top of a car under an overpass on I-70 ... they said anyone in the car had to have been killed - doesn't sound good at all. I'm afraid of what the morning light is going to show us ... they're running on empty trying to find an open gas station somewhere. This has been one nightmare of a day for Missouri.

off topic

Chicago media has been beating this day into the head of viewers since last saturday, ive never seen this kinda of coverage, its like watching Tom Skilling on every station. its refreshing.

 

[Alex Lamers]

New report on WILL...nobody allowed into Springfield. All entrances are closed off. Heavy damage per state police.

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

"SPRINGFIELD HAS BEEN HARD HIT. EVERY EXIT IN AND OUT OF THE CITY HAS BEEN BLOCKED OFF. SPRINGFIELD IS CLOSED." -- Springfield, IL state police, via WILL-AM

 

[Tim Johnson]

Every seperate supercell seen from KSGF at this point appears to have a hook. Incredible site! and scary!

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

It looks like the second Springfield (Springfield, MO) has dodged a bullet. But oh, what a storm.

 

[J.B. Dixon]

The Springfield, MO cell looks like it might spare the City proper.....Since the meso passed through/near Monett, MO, it looks like storm motion is more easterly, taking the circulation south of the city.

Horrible damage reports trickling in..... The Springfield, IL news is, unfortuately, the worst-case scenario, or so it seems so far.

 

[Andrew Francis]

Springfield MO storm recycling and appears to be heading south of the city?

 

[rdale]

Can't believe the eastern IL cell has no warning at all anymore! Still showing 2"+ hail with 60-70kts GTG shear.

edit - apparently NWS LOT thought it weakened for the 6 minutes it went without a warning ;> TOR now in effect.

 

[Matthew E. Engelbrecht]

Originally posted by Alex Lamers
New report on WILL...nobody allowed into Springfield. All entrances are closed off. Heavy damage per state police.

Boy...I don't know about this...i'm not shooting the messengers here, but the last Z/V scans that I see are stamped 0432Z and show the rotation on the lowest levels 12 miles, 201 degrees from the radar site. I have been at that site and I know that it is well to the west of town, so I can't see how Springfield could have been hit yet. Maybe i'm wrong....I hope i'm right....but it doesn't make sense to me that Springfield would have been hit just yet? Am I wrong?!

 

[Mark Farnik]

Tornadic cell continues to bear down on Springfield, MO. Very intense shear couplet in sw Greene Co heading straight for that city. Also a tornadic cell with tornado on the ground in northern Morgan Co. is making a beeline towards Jefferson City. :shock: It seems like Mother Nature has declared a free for all on Missouri's major towns.
Edit: Springfield may be spared. It's not very clear cut at the moment, but it looks like the tornado will slash through some smaller towns south of Springfield and spare the city center. Hard to say. We can only hope the tornado will move through areas of smaller population rather than the large one of Springfield.

 

[Mike Peregrine]

SGF cell does indeed appear to be cycling and has hopefully gone into a stabilizing phase before going through Battlefield. (I have family in Nixa and I'm really hoping that this is the case anyway.) ... the last few sweeps definitely show weakening in the hook - but remember that this does not mean the storm cannot produce a tornado. Sometimes storms can create tornadoes as they appear to stabilize on radar.