Alert archive / Missouri / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 9, NWS St. Louis, MO

April 5, 1988Franklin County, Saint Charles County, Missouri

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 5, 1988, 7:17 PM CDT for Franklin County, Saint Charles County, Missouri. It was in force for 43 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
Apr 5, 1988, 7:17 PM CDT (00:17 UTC)
Expired
Apr 5, 1988, 8:00 PM CDT
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS St. Louis, MO
Area
Whole counties

Counties Franklin County, MO, Saint Charles 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
Apr 5, 7:17 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 77St. Charles, MO
Apr 5, 7:38 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Franklin, 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, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 172 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, Salem-Leckrone, IL at 00:00Z on 1988-04-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1240 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, Salem-Leckrone, IL at 00:00Z on 1988-04-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 129 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1240 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-178 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1551 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
129 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
144 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
2.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSTL 060017
SVRSTL
MOC071-183-113-ILC083-013-060100-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAINT LOUIS MO
717 PM CDT TUE APR 5 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 800 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE EAST CENTRAL PART OF MISSOURI
      FRANKLIN...WESTERN ST CHARLES...SOUTHEAST LINCOLN...

   IN THE SOUTHWEST PART OF ILLINOIS
      NORTHWEST JERSEY...SOUTHERN CALHOUN...

AT 713 PM CDT A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS STRETCHED FROM JUST
WEST OF JERSEYVILLE ILLINOIS TO JUST WEST OF WENTZILLE MISSOURI
TO NEW HAVEN MISSOURI...50 MILES WEST OF ST. LOUIS.

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

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, Apr 5, 4:07 PM CDT, 3 hours 10 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA MO
405 PM CDT TUE APR 5 1988

...TORNADO WATCH FOR CENTRAL MISSOURI UNTIL 10PM...
...INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING RAPIDLY INTO CENTRAL MISSOURI...

AT 403 PM CDT A LINE OF VERY INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED FROM
JUST SOUTHWEST OF SEDALIA TO 10 MILES WEST OF WARSAW TO 50 MILES
NORTHWEST OF SPRINGFIELD. THESE STORMS WILL BE MOVING THROUGH PETTIS
...BENTON AND HICKORY COUNTIES BETWEEN 410 AN 445PM AND WILL LIKELY
CONTINUE TO INCREASE IN INTENSITY.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND POSSIBLY TORNADOES ARE EXPECTED TO SWEEP
THROUGH MUCH OF CENTRAL MISSOURI THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. RESIDENTS
SHOULD LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND WARbNINGS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE
COVER IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.
HAGEMEYER
Special weather statement, Apr 5, 5:11 PM CDT, 2 hours 6 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND MISSOURI WEATHER SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
500 PM CDT TUE APR 5 1988

...TORNADO WATCHES REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM FOR SOUTHWEST...CENTRAL
AND NORTHEAST MISSOURI...

A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM NORTHEAST MISSOURI THROUGH THE
COLUMBIA AREA INTO THE SPRINGFIELD AREA AT 5 PM. THIS LINE WAS IN
ADVANCE OF A STRONG COLD FRONT. TEMPERATURES RANGED FROM THE LOW 60S
TO THE LOW 90S. KANSAS CITY INTERNATIONAL WAS REPORTING 61 DEGREES
WHILE THE SPIRIT OF ST LOUIS AIRPORT WAS REPORTING 91.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AROUND 40 MPH.
PERSONS IN THE WATCH AREA ARE ADVISED TO BE ALERT FOR THE POSSIBILITY
OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOES DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND
EVENING HOURS.

WS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 5, 7:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXLincoln43 min
Apr 5, 7:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXSaint Louis, City of Saint Louis52 min
Apr 5, 7:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXJefferson, Washington42 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.