National Weather Service Damage Survey Released For The Baring Tornado

The tornado that struck Baring, in northern Knox County late Friday night, was rated as an EF2 in the damage survey from the National Weather Service in St. Louis.

The tornado dropped down at 11:13 Friday night on the southeast side of Baring, just southeast of the Route K and Dairy Avenue intersection. It quickly strengthened as it moved northwest producing damage southwest of the intersection. A farm outbuilding was completely destroyed, several grain bins were thrown a quarter to half mile downwind, and a home was heavily damage, with the roof and several walls removed. The tornado then crossed Route K and the railroad tracks and moved through the center of Baring. 6-to-7 businesses and 62 homes were damaged. Notable was the Post Office, which was heavily damaged, with the removal of the roof and several walls. The tornado then exited town tracking to the northwest producing damage to a farm outbuilding on the east side of Highway 15 and damage to trees on the west side of the highway. The tornado did its damage in just two minutes before dissipating. There were two injuries.

The estimated peak wind was 122 miles per hour. The path length was 1.64 miles and the width was 450 yards. The National Weather Service noted the information in their statement is preliminary and subject to change pending a final review of the event.