Alert archive / Missouri / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 4, NWS St. Louis, MO

March 17, 1989Saint Louis County, City of Saint Louis, Missouri

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 17, 1989, 5:17 PM CST for Saint Louis County, City of Saint Louis, 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
Mar 17, 1989, 5:17 PM CST (23:17 UTC)
Expired
Mar 17, 1989, 6:00 PM CST
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS St. Louis, MO
Area
Whole counties

Counties City of Saint Louis, MO, Saint Louis 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
Mar 17, 5:22 PM CSTHail 0.75St. Louis, MO
Mar 17, 5:39 PM CSTHail 2St. Louis, 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

Paducah/Barkley, KY (KPAH), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 225 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, Paducah/Barkley, KY at 12:00Z on 1989-03-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Paducah/Barkley, KY at 12:00Z on 1989-03-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 153 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
2880 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
153 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
110 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSTL 172318
SVRSTL
MOC189-510-180000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
517 PM CST FRI MAR 17 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 600 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN
THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...

IN EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI...
          ST LOUIS CITY AND NORTH AND WEST ST LOUIS COUNTY

AT 515 PM A LARGE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS IN WEST ST LOUIS COUNTY...
15 MILES WEST OF ST LOUIS MOVING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.
HALF INCH HAIL WAS REPORTED AT CHESTERFIELD IN WEST ST LOUIS COUNTY
AT 515 PM.

PERSONS IN THE NORTH AND WEST PARTS OF ST LOUIS COUNTY...AND IN THE
CITY OF ST LOUIS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR THIS STORM AS IT PASSES.

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORIS$TS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

MCCARTHY

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, Mar 17, 3:16 PM CST, 2 hours 1 minute before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA MO
315 PM CST FRI MAR 17 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER CENTRAL MISSOURI...

AT 300 PM THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING OVER EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI
IN A 10 MILES WIDE LINE FROM 40 MILES NORTHEAST OF COLUMBIA TO
15 MILES EAST OF JEFFERSON CITY.  THE STRONGEST STORM WAS OVER LINN
IN OSAGE COUNTY...15 MILES EAST OF JEFFERSON CITY.  THE OSAGE COUNTY
SHERIFF REPORTED PEA SIZED HAIL WIwTH THIS STORM AT 305 PM.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

PERSONS IN THE AREA OF THESE STORMS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR LARGE HAIL
AND VERY HEAVY.  LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS.

MET
Special weather statement, Mar 17, 3:17 PM CST, 2 hours before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTION TO LAST PARAGRAPH...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA MO
315 PM CST FRI MAR 17 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER CENTRAL MISSOURI...

AT 300 PM THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING OVER EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI
IN A 10 MILES WIDE LINE FROM 40 MILES NORTHEAST OF COLUMBIA TO
15 MILES EAST OF JEFFERSON CITY.  THE STRONGEST STORM WAS OVER LINN
IN OSAGE COUNTY...15 MILES EAST OF JEFFERSON CITY.  THE OSAGE COUNTY
SHERIFF REPORTED PEA SIZED HAIL WITH THIS STORM AT 305 PM.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

PERSONS IN THE AREA OF THESE STORMS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR LARGE HAIL
AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.  LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENzTS.

MET
Special weather statement, Mar 17, 3:24 PM CST, 1 hour 53 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
325 PM  CST FRI MAR 17 1989

...STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI...

AT 320 PM  RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN EAST CENTRAL
MISSOURI JUST WEST OF MONTGOMERY CITY OR 30 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF
COLUMBIA.  THE STORM IS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.
HAIL AND STRONG WINDS ARE EXPECTED IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY AS THE STORM
MOVES NEAR MONTGOMERY CITY AND WELLSVILLE BETWEEN 330 AND 4 PM.

HAMILTON
Special weather statement, Mar 17, 4:55 PM CST, 22 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA MO
455 PM CST FRI MAR 17 1989

...TORNADO WATCH OF PORTIONS OF EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI UNTIL 10 PM...
...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHWEST CENTRAL MISSOURI...

AT 445 PM STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER BENTON AND MORGAN COUNTIES
IN A 15 MILE WIDE AREA FROM 40 MILES WEST OF JEFFERSON CITY...JUST
NORTH OF STOVER...TO 75 MILES SOUTHWEST OF JEFFERSON CITY...15 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF WARSAW.  THE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST 
AT 50 MILES AN HOUR.  PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS SHOULD BE 
ALERT FOR PEA TO MARBLE SIZED HAIL AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.  THE STRONGEST
STORM WAS SOUTHWEST OF WARSAW AND WILL BE MOVING THROUGH WARSAW BETWEEN
455 PM AND 505 PM.  BOATERS ON TRUMAN LAKE SHOULD SEEK SHELTER.

MET

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 17, 3:54 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXLincoln51 min
Mar 17, 4:28 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXFranklin, Saint Charles, Warren47 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Missouri, 1989Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1989

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.