Category 2 Hurricane-Force Winds Confirmed in Missouri Storms

We know that Thursday was a very stormy day for many parts of Missouri. Now, we know that within those storms were hurricane-force winds that caused damage especially in Lewis County, Missouri.

The National Weather Service in St. Louis has been looking over storm reports from the severe thunderstorms that we told you earlier this week would happen. Here are the results of what they learned from those storms. Notice the wind speeds between 70 and 100 mph which would qualify as a category 2 hurricane according to the Saffir-Simpson scale.

Let's be clear that there is a big difference between straight-line wind gusts and hurricane winds where it's sustained winds that are measured. Still, there's an argument to be made that straight line winds can be worse than tornadoes in some ways. As was the case with Thursday's storms that rolled through Lewis County and other parts of Missouri, the path of damage was much wider than you'll normally see with a tornado.

It's also worth mentioning that the National Weather Service in St. Louis, Missouri is still accepting reports from Thursday's storms. If you received or witnessed damage, you can contact them via their official website.

Time will tell if we have a repeat of Thursday's storms later in June as The Farmer's Almanac is predicting tornadoes in Missouri in just 9 days as of this writing.