Alert archive / Missouri / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 5, NWS Springfield, MO
NWS Springfield, MO issued this tornado warning at Nov 15, 1988, 5:30 PM CST for Christian County, Webster County, Missouri. It was in force for 30 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Nov 15, 1988, 5:30 PM CST (23:30 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 15, 1988, 6:00 PM CST
- In force
- 30 min
- Issued by
- NWS Springfield, MO
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Christian County, MO, Webster County, MO
The radar
The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.
The nearest sounding before it
Springfield, MO (KUMN), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 73 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
- 567 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -154 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 774 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 47 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 289 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 250 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.2
- Supercell composite
- 2.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KSGF 152330
TORSGF
MOC225-043-160000-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
530 PM CST TUE NOV 15 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 600 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES
IN THE SOUTHWEST PART OF MISSOURI
WEBSTER...CHRISTIAN
AT 530 PM TORNADOES WERE REPORTED IN WESTERN CHRISTIAN AND
ALSO NEAR SPRINGFIELD MISSOURI.
THE TORNADOES WERE MOVING NORTHEAST 50 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.
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF6
AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES...
TAKE COVER IN A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.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 15, 4:03 PM CST, 1 hour 27 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO 405 PM CST TUE NOV 15 1988 ...TORNADO WATCH #480 REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 800 PM CST FOR A LARGE PORTION OF WESTERN MISSOURI... ...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR VERNON...BARBON...JASPER...NEWTON AND MCDONALD COUNTIES IN WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST MISSOURI HAS EXPIRED AND IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT... RADAR AT 400 PM CST INDICATED A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM EAST OF NEVADA MISSOURI...50 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF JOPLIN SOUTH ACROSS SARCOXIE...EAST OF JOPLIN TO 40 MILES SOUTHEAST OF JOPLIN IN EASTERN MCDONALD COUNTY. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM IN THE LINE WAS OVER SOUTHEASTERN MCDONALD COUNTY 40 MILES SOUTH OF JOPLIN. THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHERN BARRY COUNTY BY 415 PM. A WARNING MAY BE ISSUED FOR THIS THUNDERSTORM AT THAT TIME. 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 BULLETINS CONCERNING THE STORMS. LEE
Special weather statement, Nov 15, 4:50 PM CST, 40 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO 450PM CST TUE NOV 15 1988 ...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 480 CONTINUES IN EFFECT UNTIL 8PM CST FOR MOST OF SOUTHWEST MISSOURI... AT 450PM CST A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM NEAR CAPLINGER MILLS OR 50 MILES NORTHEAST OF SPRINGFIELD TO NEAR CASS- VILLE ..55 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SPRINGFIELD. GUSTY WINDS TO 45 MPH, HEAVY RAIN, HAIL LIKELY IN THESE STORMS AS THE MOVE TO THE EAST AT 30 MPH. THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD MOVE THROUGH BOLIVAR, SPRINGFIELD AND OZARK BY 530PM CST. 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 BULLETINS CONCERNING THE STORMS. VALDEMAR
The office that day
Everything else NWS Springfield, MO issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 15, 2:20 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | SGF | Vernon | 55 min |
| Nov 15, 3:00 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | SGF | Jasper, McDonald, Newton | 60 min |
| Nov 15, 3:00 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | SGF | Barton, Vernon | 60 min |
| Nov 15, 5:12 PM CST | Tornado Warning | SGF | Christian, Greene | 33 min |
| Nov 15, 5:36 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | SGF | Dallas | 69 min |
| Nov 15, 5:54 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | SGF | Laclede | 66 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.