ST. LOUIS — Severe weather shook the St. Louis area on Thursday, bringing torrential rain, hail and damage to property and tress in both Missouri and Illinois.
The storms triggered tornado sirens not once, but twice for multiple counties throughout the day. Numerous viewers sent 5 On Your Side pictures and videos of swirling clouds, and some even alleged that fully formed tornadoes may have touched down.
The only agency that can verify those claims is the National Weather Service (NWS), and they confirmed Friday morning that five tornado touchdowns happened in the St. Louis area. The agency confirmed four of the tornadoes' legitimacy on its X, formerly known as Twitter, page. The fifth tornado was confirmed by NWS officials directly to 5 On Your Side.
The tornadoes NWS confirmed in the St. Louis area on Thursday included one four in the Metro East and one in St. Louis county, including:
- Near Charlack, Missouri
- South of Jerseyville, Illinois
- North of Brighton, Illinois
- South of Fidelity, Illinois
- Near Carlinville, Illinois
How do meteorologists figure out whether a tornado happened or not? Radars and electronics can only tell NWS meteorologists so much. To figure out whether a tornado happened, the service has to head out into the field. Just over 24 hours after the storms, the agency sent out multiple survey teams to assess damage and figure out whether a legitimate tornado touchdown occurred.
"The pattern of damage determines if it was a tornado. NOT how much damage was caused," NWS said on its website. "We conduct surveys to find out exactly what happened. This helps us to improve our warnings for the future. This is also important for historical reference."
Tornado damage can often be confused with damage from a microburst, so meteorologists look at the type of damage, rather than how much damage occurred.
Damage from a tornado often looks chaotic and leaves large trees uprooted and often crossing each other on the ground, the service said. Smaller snapped branches or trees aren't usually helpful, since those don't convey the true severity of winds.
For example, NWS originally said in a tweet on Thursday that a tornado was confirmed near Maeystown, IL. However, around half a dozen surveyors went to the area on Friday and couldn't find any damage indicating a tornado was in the area.
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