Steel trusses from some of the buildings were 'rolled up like paper', and deformation or twisting of the main support beams was noted. A large steel-reinforced step and floor structure leading to a completely destroyed medical building was 'deflected upward several inches and cracked'. Numerous homes, businesses, and medical buildings were flattened in this area, with concrete walls collapsed and crushed into the foundations. and continued through most of southern Joplin. Consistent EF4 to EF5 damage was noted east of S. Schifferdecker Ave., producing its first area of EF4 damage as several small but well-built commercial buildings were flattened. The now massive wedge tornado then crossed S. Дestroyed area in the tornado's damage path Numerous homes were destroyed at EF2 to EF3 strength at that location, and multiple vehicles were tossed around, some of which were thrown on or rolled into homes. The tornado continued to strengthen as it ripped through another subdivision just east of Iron Gates Road. It heavily damaged several homes at a subdivision in this area at EF1 to EF2 strength. Widening, the tornado then tracked into the more densely populated southwest corner of the city near the Twin Hills Country Club. The tornado strengthened to EF1 intensity as it continued through rural areas towards Joplin, snapping trees and power poles and damaging outbuildings. Civil defense sirens sounded in Joplin twenty minutes before the tornado struck, in response to a tornado warning issued by the National Weather Service (NWS) at 5:17В pm CDT (22:17 UTC) for northwestern Newton and southwestern Jasper counties in Missouri, and southeastern portions of Cherokee County, Kansas, but many Joplin residents did not heed them. Eyewitnesses and storm chasers reported multiple vortices rotating around the parent circulation in that area. The tornado initially touched down just east of the Missouri- Kansas state line near the end of 32nd Street at 5:34В pm CDT (22:34 UTC) and tracked due east, downing a few trees at EF0 intensity. A public severe weather outlook was issued at this time, and the outlook stated that severe weather was expected that afternoon, with tornadoes, large hail, and strong winds all named as threats. CDT (1630 UTC) updated outlook, certainty had grown stronger that a major severe weather event would occur that afternoon. These features, accompanied by the low pressure system, encouraged very strong storm development along the cold front.

At the surface, a cold front was forecast to pass through the region later in the day, while a dryline was forecast to intersect the cold front in Kansas. The system was forecast to evolve into a wave early Monday morning as a trough strengthened from the western United States. CDT (1300 UTC) on May 22, forecasters at the SPC realized that a more intense weather outbreak was likely to occur, and upgraded a large swath of the Midwest to a moderate risk. CDT (1300 UTC), the Storm Prediction Center issued a slight risk of severe storms for much of the upper Plains and the Midwest. Very large hail was forecast, but the tornado threat was forecast to remain isolated. This feature, in addition to steep lapse rates and dewpoints above 60вЏ, was conducive to the development of supercells later in the day.

On the evening of May 21, an area of low pressure was centered over western South Dakota. history the insurance payout was $2.8 billion, the highest in Missouri history, with the previous record of $2 billion being the Aphail storm. It also ranks as the costliest single tornado in U.S. since the 1947 GlazierвЂ“HigginsвЂ“Woodward tornadoes, and the seventh-deadliest overall. It was the deadliest tornado to strike the U.S.

Overall, the tornado killed 158 people (with an additional eight indirect deaths), injured some 1,150 others, and caused damages amounting to a total of $2.8 billion. It was the third tornado to strike Joplin since May 1971. The tornado tracked eastward across the city, and then continued eastward across Interstate 44 into rural portions of Jasper and Newton counties. This particular tornado was unusual in that it intensified and grew in size at a very fast rate. Part of a larger late-May tornado outbreak, the tornado reached a maximum width of nearly one mile (1.6В km) during its path through the southern part of the city. Part of the tornado outbreak sequence of May 21вЂ“26, 2011ДЎ Most severe tornado damage see Enhanced Fujita scaleДЄ devastating EF5-rated multiple-vortex tornado struck Joplin, Missouri on the evening of Sunday, May 22, 2011.

Joplin weather