Starting around 9 p.m. last night, in Harveyville, Kansas, tornadoes swept across Kansas and Missouri, and continued through the night into Illinois, killing at least 13 people and injuring dozens of others.  The town of Harveyville, Kansas was hit around 9 p.m. and fortunately, no one was killed in this tornado, but it did damage a majority of the town--this tornado was rated an EF-2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale and did not have a tornado warning issued at the time.  The reason for this, after analyzing radar data, was because the tornado had formed and dissipated between just 3 radar scans, showing the power of mother nature and how quickly tornadoes can form with little advanced warning. 

The next tornado, affected Lamar, MO where it damaged several businesses and continued to Buffalo, MO, where it hit a mobile home park, killing one and injuring over a dozen more.  It then trekked through Lebanon MO, but thankfully no serious injuries or deaths have been reported in Lebanon, MO.    Another tornado affected the infamous town of Branson, MO where it did damage to hotels and music theatres in it's entertainment district--thankfully no injuries or deaths were reported and it was assigned an EF-2 rating.

The most significant tornado of the night/morning was in Harrisburg, IL where it struck early at around 5 a.m. and, unfortunately, took the lives of at least 10 people.  This tornado was preliminarily rated an EF-4, with wind speeds up to 170 mph and was 200 yards wide.  Tornadoes continued into today and more damage and injuries were reported in Kentucky and Indiana. If anyone would like to donate or help the victims of these tornadoes, please contact the Red Cross.

Friday has the potential to be an even bigger event for a big chunk of the country, anywhere from Illinois to Ohio and south to Mississippi and Alabama.  TVN is planning a chase and will go into further detail in a later blog.  Above, is tonight's NAM run for EHI values at 3 p.m. for Friday, and these areas could see tornadoes, some possibly strong.  Check back soon for more updates or follow Reed's Facebook fan page and Twitter account for real-time updates!