A strong tornado ripped through St. Louis near 8pm local time last night, severely damaging Lambert International Airport. The airport, the world’s 30th busiest, may be closed for several days. The tornado ripped off the roof from Concourse C, blew out more than half of the windows in the main terminal, and moved an aircraft that was parked at a gate twenty feet. So far, only minor injuries due to flying glass have been reported from the tornado. The tornado also passed over nearby residential areas, causing severe damage characteristic of least a strong EF-2 tornado. Softball-sized hail also pelted three towns in Missouri–Hermann, Big Spring, and Warrenton–during last night’s severe weather outbreak. NOAA’s Storm Prediction Center logged 24 tornado reports yesterday in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, and Kentucky. The cold front responsible for triggering last night’s severe weather will remain draped over the nation’s mid-section for the next three days, and a slight risk of severe weather is predicted along a swath from Texas to Ohio both Saturday and Sunday. A more substantial risk of severe weather is likely on Tuesday through Wednesday, as a new, more powerful spring storm system gathers strength over the Midwest.
Figure 1. Radar reflectivity image of the St. Louis tornado taken near 8pm local time on Friday, April 22, 2010. This image is from the high-resolution Terminal Doppler Radar (TDR) at the St. Louis Airport, and shows very fine details of the tornado, which displays a classic hook echo here.