Alert archive / Missouri / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 3, NWS St. Louis, MO
NWS St. Louis, MO issued this tornado warning at Nov 15, 1988, 8:34 PM CST for Saint Charles County, Missouri; Calhoun County, Illinois. It was in force for 41 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
- Nov 15, 1988, 8:34 PM CST (02:34 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 15, 1988, 9:15 PM CST
- In force
- 41 min
- Issued by
- NWS St. Louis, MO
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Calhoun County, IL, 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 15, 8:40 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind 57 | St. Charles, MO | |
| Nov 15, 9:00 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Calhoun, IL |
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, 2.6 hours before the alert went out and 158 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
- 169 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -171 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 664 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 61 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 602 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 631 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KSTL 160235
TORSTL
MOC183-ILC013-160315-
BULLETIN...EBS ACTIVATION AND IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
834 PM CST TUE NOV 15 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE
UNTIL 915 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF
EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI...
ST. CHARLES
SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS...
SOUTHERN CALHOUN
AT 832 PM A TORNADO WAS REPORTED AT BRYAN ROAD JUST SOUTHWEST OF
OFALLON MISSOURI MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.
PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD GO TO A SAFE PLACE...SUCH AS
A BASEMENT OR INTERIOR ROOM ON THE GROUND FLOOR OF A BUILDING.
STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS AND OUT OF YOUR CAR. PLEASE REPORT SEVERE
WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.
MCCARTHYWhat 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, Nov 15, 4:28 PM CST, 4 hours 6 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO 528 PM CST TUE NOV 15 1988 ...TORNADO WATCH CLEARED ALONG THE MISSOURI...KANSAS LINE... TORNADO WATCHES REMAIN IN EFFECT TONIGHT FOR PARTS OF NORTHEAST... NORTH CENTRAL...CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MISSOURI. BUT THE TORNADO WATCH ISSUED EARLIER TODAY IN WESTERN MISSOURI HAS BEEN CLEARED ALONG THE MISSOURI...KANSAS LINE...FROM AROUND MARYVILLE...SOUTH THROUGH KANSAS CITY...THEN SOUTH THROUGH NEVADA...NEOSHO AND JOPLIN. SURFACE WINDS WILL REMAIN STRONG AND GUSTY OVER MOST OF MISSOURI TONIGHT...AT LEAST DURING THE EVENING HOURS...BUT THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER IN THE FAR WEST PART OF THE STATE HAS ENDED. JUST BEFORE 430 PM THE STRONGEST STORMS IN MISSOURI WERE IN A BAND FROM THE NORTH CENTRAL COUNTIES...THROUGH JUST WEST OF SEDALIA... TO THE AREA BETWEEN JOPLIN AND SPRINGFIELD. MCCARTHY
Special weather statement, Nov 15, 4:56 PM CST, 3 hours 38 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA MO 455 PM CST TUE NOV 15 1988 ...TORNADO WATCH FOR CENTRAL AND WESTERN MISSOURI UNTIL 8PM... ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO CENTRAL MISSOURI... AT 453 PM A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING PEA TO MARBLE SIZE HAIL AND WIND GUSTS OF 50 MPH WAS CENTERED FROM ABOUT 40 MILES NORTH OF MARSHALL NEAR SUMNER TO 20 MILES WEST OF MARSHALL TO 15 MILES WEST OF SEDALIA TO WARSAW. THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH AND WILL SPREAD ACROSS ALL OF CENTRAL MISSOURI THIS EVENING. ALTHOUGH NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS YET BEEN REPORTED FROM THESE STORMS THEY MAY CONTIUE TO INCREASE IN INTENSITY AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES REMAIN POSSIBLE OVER CENTRAL MISSOURI UNITL 8PM. RESIDENTS SHOULD STAY ABREAST OF WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. HAGEMEYER
Special weather statement, Nov 15, 7:12 PM CST, 1 hour 22 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO 713 PM CST TUE NOV 15 1988 ...WESTERN HALF OF MISSOURI CLEARED FROM TORNADO WATCHES... TORNADO WATCHES ISSUED EARLIER TODAY INCLUDING WESTERN MISSOURI HAVE BEEN CANCELLED WEST OF A LINE FROM KIRKSVILLE MISSOURI...THROUGH COLUMBIA...THROUGH THE LAKE OF THE OZARKS...TO LEBANON...AND SOUTH TO THE ARKANSAS LINE AT THE TANEY...OZARK COUNTY LINE. TORNADO WATCHES REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR EASTERN MISSOURI. MCCARTHY
The office that day
Everything else NWS St. Louis, MO issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 15, 6:12 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | Adair, Schuyler, Scotland | 33 min |
| Nov 15, 6:27 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | Monroe, Shelby | 33 min |
| Nov 15, 6:27 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | Knox | 33 min |
| Nov 15, 6:52 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | Phelps | 38 min |
| Nov 15, 7:02 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | Marion, Ralls | 43 min |
| Nov 15, 7:30 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | Pike | 45 min |
| Nov 15, 7:38 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | Franklin, Warren | 67 min |
| Nov 15, 7:57 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | Dent | 48 min |
| Nov 15, 8:04 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | Lincoln, Saint Charles | 41 min |
| Nov 15, 8:19 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | Saint Charles | 41 min |
| Nov 15, 8:31 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | Crawford, Washington | 44 min |
| Nov 15, 9:01 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | Franklin, Jefferson, Saint Louis | 44 min |
| Nov 15, 9:01 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | City of Saint Louis | 44 min |
| Nov 15, 10:29 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | Sainte Genevieve | 46 min |
| Nov 15, 9:10 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | Madison, Monroe, Saint Clair | 50 min |
| Nov 15, 9:55 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | Madison, Saint Clair | 35 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Missouri, 1988Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 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.