Alert archive / Missouri / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Kansas City, MO

March 24, 1988Saline County, Missouri

NWS Kansas City, MO issued this tornado warning at Mar 24, 1988, 4:46 PM CST for Saline County, Missouri. It was in force for 29 min. 2 reports 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
Mar 24, 1988, 4:46 PM CST (22:46 UTC)
Expired
Mar 24, 1988, 5:15 PM CST
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Kansas City, MO
Area
Whole counties

County Saline 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
Mar 24, 4:51 PM CSTTornado F0Saline, MO
Mar 24, 5:05 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 61Saline, 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 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 211 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 12:00Z on 1988-03-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 529 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 1988-03-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 221 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
529 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-94 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
632 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
221 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
314 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
1.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCOU 242246
TORCOU
MOC195-242315-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION AND IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA MO
446 PM CST THU MAR 24 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 515 PM CST FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF
 
CENTRAL MISSOURI... SALINE
 
 
AT 445 PM CST RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR SWEET SPRINGS
AND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.
 
TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.]  GO TO YOUR BASEMENT OR AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET OR BATHROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  GET UNDER
SOMETHING STURDY.  AVOID WINDOWS AND PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FLYING
GLASS AND DEBRIS.
 
VOTAW

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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, Mar 24, 2:14 PM CST, 2 hours 32 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY MO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
210 PM CST THU MAR 24 1988

...TORNADO WATCH..NUMBER 22..IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM..

AT 2 PM RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF INTENSE THUNDESTORMS...25 MILES
WIDE..FROM 30 MILES SOUTH OF OTTOWA KANSAS THRROUGH THE WEST PART
OF THE KANSAS CITY METRO AREA...TO ST JOSEPH AND INTO NORTH CENTRAL
MISSOURI...NORTH EAST OF MARYVILE.
THIS LINE OF STORMS WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.
HALF INCH HAIL HAD BEEN REPORTED FROM A FEW LOCATIONS IN WYONDOTTE
COUNTY IN KANSAS.
THESE STORMS CONTINUED TO INTENSIFY..STAY TUNED.
Special weather statement, Mar 24, 3:16 PM CST, 1 hour 30 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY MO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
310 PM CST THU MAR 24 1988

...TORNADO WATCH..NUMBER 22..IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM..

AT 3 PM A LINE OF INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS...25 MILES WIDE...STRETCHED
FROM NEAR LAMONI IOWA...INTO THE EAST PARTS OF KANSAS CITY...AND SOUTH
INTO EAST CENTRAL KANSAS...JUST NORTH OF FT SCOTT.

THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER HAS MOVED OUT OF NORTHEAST KANSAS AND
THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF MISSOURI...BUT CONTINUES TO THE EAST OF THE
LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY TUNED.
Local storm report, Mar 24, 4:31 PM CST, 15 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY MO
430 PM CST THU MAR 24 1988

FOR WEATHER ON 3/24/88

TIME                     REPORT
215 PM   1/2 INCH HAIL NEAR TONGANOXIE KANSAS...LEAVENWORTH COUNTY.
230 PM   1/4 INCH HAIL ST. JOSEPH MISSOURI...BUCHANNAN COUNTY.
230 PM   MARBLE SIZE HAIL EAST OF LANSING KANSAS...LEAVENWORTH CTY.
230 PM   FUNNEL CLOUD 31/2-4 MILES WEST...SOUTHWEST OF DESOTO KS IN
         JOHNSON COUNTY KS.
235 PM   1/4 INCH HAIL KANSAS CITY KANSAS CITY HALL...WYANDOTTE CTY.
          COUNTY ASCS OFFICE.
237 PM   TORNADO PICKED UP FENCE SOUTHWEST OF DESOTO KANSAS...LIFTED
         BACK TO FUNNEL CLOUD...TORNADO SIGNATURE ON RADAR...
         JOHNSON COUNTY KANSAS.
24T0 PM   SELS REPORTED WALL CLOUD SEEN OVER JOHNSON COUNTY KANSAS.
259 PM   45 MPH WINDS...SMALL HAIL...GLADSTONE MO...CLAY COUNTY.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 24, 1:18 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXNodaway42 min
Mar 24, 4:23 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXChariton, Linn67 min
Mar 24, 4:23 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXSaline67 min
Mar 24, 4:57 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXPettis58 min
Mar 24, 5:09 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXBenton56 min
Mar 24, 5:31 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXMoniteau, Morgan59 min
Mar 24, 5:31 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXBoone, Cooper, Howard, Randolph59 min
Mar 24, 5:31 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXMacon59 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Missouri, 1988Every tornado warning in 1988Tornadoes in 1988

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.