Month: April 2025

The National Weather Service is confirming a tornado track from the south through the east side of Nevada Wednesday morning.

A Tornado Warning was in effect for Vernon County when the storm hit, flipping over multiple semi trucks on Interstate 49.

In addition, there were reports of roofs off of buildings and trees uprooted.

We had several tornado warnings west of Springfield Wednesday morning, with severe thunderstorm warnings in the metro area and other parts of the Ozarks.

The storms also knocked out power to parts of southwest Missouri, with Vernon County reporting nearly 4,600 outages during the peak of the storm.

Barton County reported around 400 outages.

In Springfield, storms knocked down a tree that damaged a power line near Oak Grove and Madison, but the line was quickly repaired by crews from Springfield City Utilities.

The Tornado Watch for much of southwest Missouri was allowed to expire at noon, but Ozark, Douglas and Wright Counties in the eastern Ozarks are under a Tornado Watch until 4pm Wednesday.

Forecasters say the best chance of tornadoes Wednesday afternoon and evening will be along and east of Highway 63, where strong tornadoes are possible.

Missouri State University has broken ground on a $26.2 million advancement center.

The center is named after former MSU President Clif Smart, and it’s set to open in the fall of 2026.

The 28,000 square foot addition to campus will serve as a central hub for university advancement, engagement, and alumni relations and will feature an event center for nearly 200 people, two conference rooms, an executive boardroom, living room, traditions hall and an outdoor courtyard.

Initial funding for the project came from an anonymous seven-figure donation announced last April.

The groundbreaking ceremony took place at the site of the future building, across from the Davis-Harrington Welcome Center on the northwest corner of National Avenue and Bear Boulevard.

A line of severe thunderstorms moving in from eastern Kansas will move through the Ozarks Wednesday morning, with further development in the far eastern Ozarks in the afternoon.

A Tornado Watch is in effect for most of southwest Missouri until Noon Wednesday.

The National Weather Service says the intensity and coverage of storms is expected to increase as the day goes on and the line moves further east.

There is still some uncertainty in how well the line holds together west of Highway 63, but areas east of the highway may experience damaging winds of 60 to 80 miles per hour, large hail up to the size of golf balls, and a couple of tornadoes Wednesday afternoon.

Hail up to the size of half dollars, 50 to 70 mile per hour winds and a brief tornado or two are possible in southwest Missouri from Wednesday morning’s round of storms.

We’ll keep you up to date with the latest watches and warnings any reports of damage from the storms.

In addition, a Wind Advisory is in effect for areas along and west of Highway 65 on Wednesday. The winds will mainly be a nuisance to high profile vehicles and unsecured outdoor objects, and will also create some elevated fire danger, especially across western Missouri.

The National Weather Service has put together a packet with graphics and information outlining the storm threat for Wednesday and the days ahead.

City Utilities of Springfield will host a public session to talk about its Integrated Resource Plan, which focuses on the future of power generation and the anticipated growth in energy demand.

The drop-in style meeting is Wednesday from 4pm-6pm at the C-U Electric Operations Center at 740 north Belcrest in Springfield.

Two people are hurt after a shooting in downtown Springfield over the weekend.

Police say the shooting occurred at a bar at 620 west College Street late Saturday night.

One of the victims suffered serious injuries, but is now in stable condition.

The other has non-life-threatening injuries.

Police have not arrested anyone, but do not believe there is an ongoing threat to the public.