Alert archive / Missouri / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 50, NWS St. Louis, MO
NWS St. Louis, MO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 17, 1988, 8:59 PM CDT for Saint Francois County, Missouri. It was in force for 31 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
- Oct 17, 1988, 8:59 PM CDT (01:59 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 17, 1988, 9:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 31 min
- Issued by
- NWS St. Louis, MO
- Area
- Whole counties
County Saint Francois 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 17, 9:15 PM CDT | Hail 1 | St. Francois, 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
Salem-Leckrone, IL (KSLO), launched 00:00Z, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 166 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 614 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -187 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1371 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 48 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 344 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 543 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 2.0
The text
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
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, Oct 17, 6:03 PM CDT, 2 hours 56 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO 600 PM CDT MON OCT 17 1988 ...TORNADO WATCH FOR SOUTH CENTRAL AND EAST MISSOURI...CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNTIL 11PM CDT... JUST BEFORE 6 PM THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO DEVELOP AND STRENGTHEN ALONG A LINE FROM JUST NORTHWEST OF DECATUR ILLINOIS TO JUST NORTHWEST OF JERSEYVILLE ILLINOIS...ABOUT 30 MILES NORTH OF ST LOUIS...ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO JUST WEST OF WARRENTON MISSOURI. OTHER VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE WIDELY SCATTERED FROM AROUND SPRINGFIELD ILLINOIS TO THE AREA BETWEEN COLUMBIA AND SEDALIA MISSOURI. THE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAIN...STRONG WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLY HAIL. VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL PUSH INTO THE NORTH AND WEST PARTS OF THE ST LOUIS METROPOLITAN AREA BETWEEN 630 AND 7 PM AND CONTINUE PUSHING SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE METRO AREA FROM 7 TO 8 PM. MCCARTHY
Special weather statement, Oct 17, 6:31 PM CDT, 2 hours 28 minutes before
RADAR SUMMARY AND SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO 630 PM CDT MON OCT 17 1988 ...TORNADO WATCH FOR SOUTH CENTRAL AND EAST MISSOURI...CENTRAL AND SOUTH ILLINOIS UNTIL 11PM CDT... AT 630 PM...A BAND OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND POSSIBLE HAIL...STRETCHED FROM CENTRAL MISSOURI TO EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS. THESE STORMS STRETCHED FROM COLUMBIA MISSOURI TO 25 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CHAMPAIGN ILLINOIS. THE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR. RADAR NOWCAST...STRONG STORMS IN CENTRAL MISSOURI WERE IN AN AREA BETWEEN COLUMBIA AND JEFFERSON CITY MISSOURI AND IN ILLINOIS FROM JUST NORTH OF ALTON TO DECATUR. FMD
Special weather statement, Oct 17, 7:05 PM CDT, 1 hour 54 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO 700 PM CDT MON OCT 17 1988 ...TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES UNTIL 11 PM FOR SOUTH CENTRAL AND PARTS OF EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI INTO CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN ILLINOIS... THE WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT FOR THAT PART OF MISSOURI NORTH OF A LINE FROM 10 MILES SOUTH OF SEDALIA...TO 10 MILES SOUTH OF COLUMBIA TO ELSBERRY MISSOURI...50 MILES NORTHWEST OF ST LOUIS. JUST BEFORE 7 PM VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN A BAND FROM DECATUR ILLINOIS TO JUST EAST OF LITCHFIELD ILLINOIS...50 MILES NORTHEAST OF ST LOUIS...THROUGH THE NORTHWEST SECTIONS OF THE ST LOUIS METROPOLITAN AREA...TO AROUND JEFFERSON CITY MISSOURI. THE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 40 MPH AND WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...STRONG WINDS AND POSSIBLY HAIL. JUST AFTER 630 PM AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS REPORTED 50 MPH WINDS AND PEA SIZE HAIL AT GODFREY ILLINOIS...ABOUT 20 MILES NORTH OF ST LOUIS. MCCARTHY
Local storm report, Oct 17, 7:27 PM CDT, 1 hour 32 minutes before
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</html>The office that day
Everything else NWS St. Louis, MO issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 17, 7:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | Saint Charles, Saint Louis, City of Saint Louis | 45 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.