Alert archive / Missouri / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Kansas City, MO

May 21, 1987Pettis County, Missouri

NWS Kansas City, MO issued this tornado warning at May 21, 1987, 7:16 PM CDT for Pettis County, Missouri. It was in force for 44 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 21, 1987, 7:16 PM CDT (00:16 UTC)
Expired
May 21, 1987, 8:00 PM CDT
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Kansas City, MO
Area
Whole counties

County Pettis 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 21, 7:27 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 61Pettis, 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, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 206 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 1987-05-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 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 1987-05-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 36 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1165 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
36 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
118 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 KCOU 220016
TORCOU
MOC159-220100-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA MO
716 PM CDT THU MAY 21 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 800 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

CENTRAL MISSOURI...PETTIS

AT 715 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 10 SOUTHWEST OF
SEDALIA MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR. LARGE HAIL AND 60
MILE AN HOUR WINDS HAVE ALSO BEEN REPORTED WITH THIS THUNDERSTORM.

THIS TORNADO WARNING INCLUDES THE CITY OF SEDALIA.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...GO TO A BASEMENT SHELTER
IF AVAILABLE...OTHERWISE TO A CENTRAL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING.

IF YOU ARE IN AN AREA THREATENED BY THE STORM...GO TO A REINFORCED
SHELTER AND PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY
RAIN AND LIGHTNING.

 VOTAW/HAGEMEYER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 21, 7:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXAudrain, Callaway37 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Missouri, 1987Every tornado warning in 1987Tornadoes 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.