Alert archive / Missouri / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 4, NWS Kansas City, MO

May 11, 1987Cass County, Missouri

NWS Kansas City, MO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 11, 1987, 7:45 PM CDT for Cass County, Missouri. It was in force for 45 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
May 11, 1987, 7:45 PM CDT (00:45 UTC)
Expired
May 11, 1987, 8:30 PM CDT
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Kansas City, MO
Area
Whole counties

County Cass County, MO

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 11, 8:15 PM CDTHail 1.75Cass, MO

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 118 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 1987-05-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1932 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 1987-05-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -1 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1932 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1886 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
41 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KMCI 120045
SVRMCI
MOC037-120130-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY INTL AIRPORT
745 PM CDT MON MAY 11 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL MISSOURI
          ...CASS
 
AT 7:42 PM...3/4 INCH TO 1 INCH HAIL WAS REPORTED AT BELTON
MISSOURI...BY THE CIVIL DEFENSE.
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSgTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 11, 6:36 PM CDT, 1 hour 9 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT MO
630 PM CDT TUE MAY 11 1987

A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED ALONG A WEAK COLD FRONT...
JUST SOUTH OF THE KANSAS CITY METROPOLITAIN AREA DURING THE LAST
HOUR.

THE STORMS ARE ALONG A LINE FROM JUST NORTH OF LAWRENCE KANSAS TO
ODESSA MISSOURI. HALF INCH HAIL WAS REPORTED IN BLUE SPRINGS AT
ABOUT 6:25 PM.

THE STORMS WILL AFFECT SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL JACKS$ON AND JOHNSON
COUNTIES BETWEEN NOW AND 7:30 PM. THERE WILL BE PERIODS OF VERY
HEAVY RAIN...SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS.
WW
Special weather statement, May 11, 7:39 PM CDT, 6 minutes before
RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT MO
740 PM CDT MON MAY 11 1987

AT 730 PM...A LINE OF VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS STRETCHED FROM
EASTCENTRAL MISSOURI TO EASTCENTRAL KANSAS.

STORMS WERE IN A 15 MILE WIDE LINE THAT STRETCHED FROM 30 MILES NORTH
OF COLUMBIA MISSOURI TO JUST SOUTH OF KANSAS CITY TO 45 MILES SOUTH
OF TOPEKA KANSAS.  STRONGEST STORMS WERE PRODUCING BRIEF VERY HEAVY
RAIN...GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL.  GOLF_ BALL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED IN
SOUTHWEST JOHNSON COUNTY KANSAS AT 655 PM AND ONE INCH HAIL WAS
REPORTED AT LEES SUMMIT MISSOURI AT 715 PM.

MOVMENT WAS SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Kansas City, MO issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 11, 7:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXCass, Jackson40 min
May 11, 7:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXPettis, Saline41 min
May 11, 8:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXCass53 min
May 11, 9:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXJohnson42 min
May 11, 10:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXHenry51 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Missouri, 1987Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1987

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.