Warm weather spawns tornado warning Friday

Unseasonably warm weather clashing with cold temperatures Friday morning spawned a tornado warning after a severe thunderstorm warning was issued for Callaway County.

The National Weather Service reported Callaway County and all of Central Missouri were placed under a tornado watch from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday.

The National Weather Service reported high winds ripped through the county about 10 a.m. Friday. The storm lasted only about one-half hour.

The Weather Service reported areas hit by the storm included Holts Summit, New Bloomfield, Mokane, Reform, Steedman, Portland, Fulton, Carrington, Auxvasse, Shamrock, Kingdom City and Wlliamsburg.

The National Weather Service first issued a tornado watch, indicating conditions were favorable for a tornado, for all of Callaway County. A few minutes later, a tornado warning was issued, indicating a tornado was spotted. However, it was withdrawn a few minutes later. Tornado warning sirens sounded in Fulton for about five minutes before they were shut down.

Michelle Kidwell, director of the Callaway County Emergency Operations Center, said "when a tornado warning is issued, all of the sirens in the county are sounded. The warning status always comes from the National Weather Service or it can come from a certified weather spotter or a first responder who has actually sighted a funnel cloud or a tornado. In the case on Friday, the National Weather Service changed the status from a watch to a warning. There was no funnel cloud spotted but the National Weather Service issued the warning based on radar observations," Kidwell said.