We were at our favorite little diner for breakfast when we got a call that the storm was headed our way. We hurried through our meal and headed back to town when the storm met us. It was a huge wall of darkness with rain and wind. We passed a cyclist who was battling the wind and rain and offered to give him a ride but he declined. No wind damage here but tornados are popping up everywhere.

From the Weather Channel:

9:56am ET
Derecho tearing through KS, MO, AR:

A violent derecho which earlier bulldozed through southeastern Kansas, is now tearing its way through Missouri and northern stretches of Arkansas.
What is a derecho? It's a violent, quickly moving and long-lived thunderstorm complex that travels long distances and produces destructive winds typically on the order of 50 to as much as 100 mph (perhaps even more!). As you can see in the imagery above, it also takes on the form of a curvature shape; sometimes referred to as a bow echo.
So as the definition goes, this complex has had a history this morning of producing structural damage such as tearing roofs off of houses and buildings.

Notable storm reports associated with derecho:

Wichita, KS (4 to 5 am CT): 50 to 60 mph winds, torrential rains, large hail.

New Albany, KS (5:52 am CT): 1 fatality - woman was found in the remains of her mobile home.

Carthage, MO (7:15 am CT): 93 mph wind gust.

Joplin, MO (7:48 am CT): Wind gust to 85 mph. Winds were gusting upwards of 50 mph for close to 40 min. Windows blown out of downtown buildings.

Springfield, MO (8:07 am CT): Tornado was spotted on the ground near Springfield. Winds gusted to 66 mph around 8:15 am CT.

Norwood, MO (9:00 am CT): Norwood post office lost roof and blew across train tracks according to train crew.

Rolla-Vichy, MO (9:04 am CT): Wind gust to 58 mph. Received 2.16 inches of rain from 8 to 9 am CT.

Doniphan, MO (10:30 am CT): Numerous trees down in Ripley County. Two main buildings in downtown Doniphan lost their roofs.

1 mile south of Poplar Bluff, MO (10:50 am CT): Missouri Highway Patrol reported a tree fell on a car. The car then caught on fire and 2 people in side were killed.

4 miles SE of Caledonia, MO (11:29 am CT): Tornado on the ground in the vicinity of Missouri Highways 32 and 21 slightly south of the Washington County line.

We'll be following this derecho event throughout the day and will provide you with damage reports and excessive wind, rain reports. Check back to see the latest. As you can imagine, severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings are popping up left and right as the derecho moves through.


7:44am ET
What's on tap for Friday?

South

A cold front will slide into the Tennessee Valley and stall out this weekend.
Today, the front should extend from southern Kansas eastward to the Virginia coast.
Rainfall amounts of 3 to 6 inches are possible by Monday morning across southern Kansas, eastern Oklahoma, Kentucky, Tennessee, northern Georgia, northern Alabama, northern Mississippi, Arkansas and northeast Texas.
Be careful everyone and keep your eyes on the skies.