The National Weather Service Forecast Office in Springfield, Missouri is confirming that two EF-1 tornadoes of around equal strength hit Polk County, Missouri during the early evening hours of Saturday, May 19, 2018. The first tornado touched down around 2 miles northwest of Pleasant Hope at 6:25 p.m. It traveled about 2.3 miles and was nearly 100 yards wide with estimated peak winds of around 100 miles per hour. The second twister touched down about 3 minutes later approximately 3 miles north-northwest of Pleasant Hope. It traveled about 2 miles and also had estimated peak winds of 100 miles per hour and a width of around 100 yards.
The first tornado uprooted and damaged numerous trees and damaged several outbuildings before tearing the roof off of one house. The second twister destroyed two barns and damaged the roof on a third. It also uprooted several trees.
Fortunately, no injuries or fatalities were reported.
Forecasters say the severe weather on May 19th and 20th was spawned by several waves of upper-level energy that interacted with instability and a little bit of shear. Several rounds of showers and thunderstorms errupted throughout the entire Springfield Missouri County Warning Area also bringing many reports of wind damage and large hail. As much as 4 to 6 inches of rain fell in some areas as the storms “trained” (moved across many of the same locations) causing localized flooding.