May 10, 2008 Radar

I finally had time this weekend to grab the historical radar images from the May 10, 2008 deadly tornado in Southwest Missouri. I posted on the site in the past about the "hook echo" that appears on radar when there is a tornado. Below are the radar images from Picher, OK and Racine, MO

In this radar image you can see the storm right before the EF-4 tornado hit Picher, OK. Wind speeds were estimated at 165-175 MPH. Six people died in Picher. Shortly after this, a second tornado formed to the north of this one and merged into a mile wide tornado as it crossed into Missouri.

In this radar image you can see the mile wide EF-4 tornado has already moved through the Racine, MO area. Winds were estimated at 170 MPH, throwing cars up to a 1/2 mile. 13 people died in this area, including a firefighter/spotter who is credited with saving 3 lives.

This was a very large and devastating tornado. Because of the terrain it covered and the SE movement of the storm, it was nearly impossible for spotters that were east of it to intercept. I'll save that topic for another posting later.