Alert archive / Missouri / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Springfield, MO

November 9, 1988Barton County, Missouri

NWS Springfield, MO issued this tornado warning at Nov 9, 1988, 5:02 PM CST for Barton County, Missouri. It was in force for 28 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
Nov 9, 1988, 5:02 PM CST (23:02 UTC)
Expired
Nov 9, 1988, 5:30 PM CST
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Springfield, MO
Area
Whole counties

County Barton 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
Nov 9, 5:25 PM CSTHail 0.75Barton, 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

Springfield, MO (KUMN), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 83 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, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 1988-11-09Temperature 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, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 1988-11-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 411 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
763 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
411 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
395 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSGF 092302
TORSGF
MOC011-092330-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
502 PM CST WED NOV 9 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE SOUTHWEST PART OF MISSOURI
      BARTON

AT 455 PM CST A TORNADO WAS REPORTED IN PITTSBURG KANSAS...25 MILES
NORTHEAST OF JOPLIN MISSOURI...MOVING NORTHEAST 40 MPH.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE IS IN
A BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...FIND SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...FIND SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...TAKE SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH...
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS.  IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF
A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING.  IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...TAKE SHELTEvR IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

 LEE

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, Nov 9, 3:24 PM CST, 1 hour 38 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
320PM CST WED NOV 9 1988

...TORNADO WATCH #466 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9PM CST...

AT 320 PM CST A STRONG LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS APPROACHING WEST
CENTRAL MISSOURI. THIS LINE OF STRONG STORMS EXTENDED FROM ABOUT
35 MILES NORTHWEST OF NEVADA..OR 80 MILES NORTHWEST OF JOPLIN TO
50 MILES WEST OF JOPLIN.

THESE STORMS WILL BE MOVING ACROSS VERNON AND BARTON COUNTIES OF
WEST CENTRAL MISSOURI BETWEEN 330PM AND 430PM CST.

LARGE HAIL, STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND HEAVY RAINS ARE POSSIBLE IN SOME
OF THESE STORMS.

IF SEVERE WEATHER APPROACHES MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.

PEOPLE SHOULD BE ALERT
 FOR LATER WEATHER BULLETINGS CONCERNING THE STORMS.

VALDEMAR
Special weather statement, Nov 9, 4:14 PM CST, 48 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
415 PM CST WED NOV 9 1988

...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 466 IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM CST...

...LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST
MISSOURI...

AT 410 PM CST A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM TULSA OKLAHOMA
TO 60 MILES NORTH OF JOPLIN MISSOURI.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM IN THE LINE WAS 40 MILES NORTHWEST OF JOPLIN
MISSOURI.  THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST 40 MPH AND WILL MOVE
INTO BARTON COUNTY BY 430 PM.  THIS THUNDERSTORM PRODUCED 11/4 HAIL AS
IT MOVED ACROSS PARSONS KANSAS.

IF SEVERE WEATHER APPROACHES MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BU;SINESS.

PEOPLE SHOULD BE ALERT FOR LATER WEATHER BULLETINGS CONCERNING THE STORMS.

LEE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 9, 4:42 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGFBarton, Jasper48 min
Nov 9, 5:28 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGFBarton, Jasper, Newton62 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.