Alert archive / Missouri / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS St. Louis, MO

March 24, 1988Knox County, Scotland County, Missouri

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 24, 1988, 5:40 PM CST for Knox County, Scotland County, Missouri. It was in force for 50 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
Mar 24, 1988, 5:40 PM CST (23:40 UTC)
Expired
Mar 24, 1988, 6:30 PM CST
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS St. Louis, MO
Area
Whole counties

Counties Knox County, MO, Scotland 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, 6:15 PM CSTHail 1Knox, 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

Peoria Regional, IL (KPIA), launched 12:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 220 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, Peoria Regional, IL at 12:00Z on 1988-03-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 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, Peoria Regional, IL at 12:00Z on 1988-03-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 175 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
532 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
175 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
156 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 KSTL 242340
SVRSTL
MOC103-199-250030-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
540 PM CST THU MAR 24 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
UNTIL 630 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

NORTHEAST MISSOURI...
    SCOTLAND AND KNOX

AT 535 PM RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST WEST OF NOVELTY
MISSOURI...OR ABOUT 20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF KIRKSVILLE.  ANOTHER WAS
JUST SOUTHWEST OF MEMPHIS...OR ABOUT 20 MILES NORTHEAST OF
KIRKSVILLE.  THIS STORM PRODUCED LARGE HAIL AND 70 MPH WINDS JUST
NORTH OF KIRKSVILLE AT 515 PM.  THEY WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT
30 MPH.

PROTECT YOURSELF FROM DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL AND LIGHTNING
BY STAYING IN A BUILDING...AWAY FROM WINDOWS.  DO NOT USE THE
TELEPHONE OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES EXCEPT IN EMERGENCIES.

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT.  BE ALERT...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
CAN PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO WARNING.

MCCARTHY

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, Mar 24, 2:51 PM CST, 2 hours 49 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA MO
250 PM CST THU MAR 24 1988

...TORNADO WATCH FOR NORTHERN AND CENTRAL MISSOURI UNTIL 8PM...
...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND POSSIBLY TORNADOES LATER THIS AFTERNOON
FOR CENTRAL MISSOURI...BE PREPARED...
AT 248 PM CST NO THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WAS IN OR NEAR CENTRAL
MISSOURI...HOWEVER THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING AND INTENSIFYING RAPIDLY
TO THE WEST. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND POSSIBLY TORNADOES ARE
EXPECTED TO MOVE RAPIDLY THROUGH CENTRAL MISSOURI LATER THIS AFTERNOON
AND EARLY THIS EVENING.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS SITUATION. RESIDENTS OF CENTRAL MISSOURI BE ON
THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER AND LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO
AND THE COMMERCIAL MEDIA FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND WARNINGS. NOW IS
THE TIME TO THINK ABOUT WHERE YOU WOULD GO IN THE EVENT OF A TORNADO.
IN THE BASEMENT UNDER A STURDY OBJECT... OR IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS
A BATHROOM OR HALLWAY ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE IS THE BEST PLACE
TO TAKE COVER IN YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.     HAGEMEYER
Special weather statement, Mar 24, 3:58 PM CST, 1 hour 42 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA MO
355 PM CST THU MAR 24 1988

...TORNADO WATCH FOR NORTHERN AND CENTRAL MISSOURI UNTIL 8PM...
...INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS MVOING RAPIDLY INTO CENTRAL MISSOURI...

AT 350 PM CDT THE LEADING EDGE OF A 20 MILE WIDE LINE OF VERY INTENSE
THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM CHILLICOTHE TO 30 MILES WEST OF MARSHALL
TO 50 MILES WEST OF SEDALIA. THE MOST DANGEROUS STORM WAS LOCATED
35 MILES NORTHWEST OF MARSHALL AND WILL BE MOVING INTO LINN COUNTY
OF NORTH CENTRAL MISSOURI BY ABOUT 430PM.

INTENSE...POSSIBLY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL SWEEP THROUGH ALL OF
CENTRAL MISSOURI LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. RESIDENTS BE ON THE
LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER AND LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND
COMMERCIAL MEDIA FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND WARNINGS. BE PREPARED TO
SEEK SHELTER IN A BASEMENT OR WINDOWLESS INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE IF THREATENING WEATHER IS SIGHTED OR A WARNING ISS:UED
FOR YOUR AREA.                       HAGEMEYER

The office that day

Everything else NWS St. Louis, MO issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 24, 5:20 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXAdair, Schuyler40 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Missouri, 1988Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.