NWS confirms tornado touchdown in Brixey area
Several broken limbs and uprooted large trees were found along a less than one mile stretch in Brixey where officials believe a tornado touched down for a brief period Sunday.
Ozark County Emergency Management Director Curtis Ledbetter said Tuesday that after speaking with weather officials, the National Weather Service confirmed that an EF-0 tornado touched down 11 miles north of Gainesville in the Brixey area in the early morning hours Sunday, May 26.
Ledbetter said he was initially made aware of the damage after he saw a video posted by a Brixey resident showing limbs snapped and trees uprooted in the area of County Road 150 in Brixey. Upon further inspection, there was a path of damage featured trees lying in various directions, a telltale sign of damage from rotational winds rather than straight-line winds, Ledbetter explained.
The path of damage led from an area in the Missouri Department of Conservation’s Caney Mountain Conservation area to County Road 150.
A good portion of the damage that Ledbetter saw was around a residence on that county road, where several large trees were uprooted. The trees can be seen lying in various directions, again a sign that they were uprooted by a tornado. Thankfully, the trees, which were located near the house and vehicles, did not cause property damage.
Other than that area, Ledbetter says the sheriff’s department hasn’t received any reports of further damage received in the storms.
That doesn’t mean the night was a calm one though. As the Ozark County sheriff’s report shows this week, the NWS issued tornado warnings for several Ozark County communities in the early morning hours Sunday. Warnings were issued first for west central Ozark County in Theodosia, Thornfield and Longrun, then later for northeastern Ozark County in Dora, Rockbridge, Brixey, Sycamore, Zanoni and Willhoit. The tornado in Brixey was moving at around 30 miles per hour, the report says.
Other areas in the region were not as lucky as Ozark County in terms of damage. The NWS counted at least 10 confirmed tornadoes that hit the Ozarks throughout Sunday. Three of those have been rated at EF-3.
One EF-3 tornado was spotted south of Bellefonte in Boone County, Arkansas, and went through Olvey before lifting in Marion County.
Another EF-3 tornado was confirmed to have touched down in Briarcliff in Baxter County, Arkansas.
In Mountain View, Missouri, an EF-3 tornado was on the ground for six miles with winds spinning up to 140 miles per hour. An EF-2 tornado was also confirmed just east of Mountain View near Birch Tree in Shannon County. It traveled 2.5 miles and carried peak winds of 125 miles per hour.
Six other tornadoes that were confirmed included:
An EF-1 tornado north of Mansfield in Wright County that touched down at around 3:40 a.m. Sunday. It carried up to 100 mph winds and traveled for 2.25 miles.
An EF-1 tornado in Texas County that started five miles southwest of Bendavis and lifted seven miles southwest of Houston Sunday night. It carried up to 100 mph winds and traveled 13 miles.
An EF-0 tornado in southwest Dade County from Sunday night. It carried up to 85 mph winds.
An EF-0 tornado one mile north of Bradleyville in Taney County that touched down at around 3:30 a.m. Sunday. It carried up to 80 mph winds and traveled one mile.
An EF-0 tornado south of Buffalo in Dallas County that touched down at around 4:15 a.m. Sunday. It carried up to 65 mph winds and traveled one mile.
An EF-0 tornado near Winona in Shannon County from Sunday night. It carried up to 80 mph winds and traveled for less than a mile.
Editor's note: The NWS confirmed the EF-0 tornado after the print edition went to press. This story has been updated to reflect the confirmation.