Alert archive / Missouri / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 69, NWS St. Louis, MO

May 24, 1989Macon County, Missouri

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 24, 1989, 10:09 AM CDT for Macon County, Missouri. It was in force for 51 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 24, 1989, 10:09 AM CDT (15:09 UTC)
Expired
May 24, 1989, 11:00 AM CDT
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS St. Louis, MO
Area
Whole counties

County Macon 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

Peoria Regional, IL (KPIA), launched 12:00Z, 3.2 hours before the alert went out and 268 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, Peoria Regional, IL at 12:00Z on 1989-05-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 691 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, Peoria Regional, IL at 12:00Z on 1989-05-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 140 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
691 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-130 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1099 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
140 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
140 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCOU 241510
SVRCOU
MOC121-241600-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA MO
1009 AM CDT WED MAY 24 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL MISSOURI
          ...MACON
 
AT 1005 AM CDT A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS 6 MILES WEST OF MACON MOVING
TO THE EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR. THIS STORM HAS PRODUCED ONE INCH
HAIL.
 
 
 
 
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 UNT~IL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.
MET

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, May 24, 4:29 AM CDT, 5 hours 40 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAINT LOUIS, MO
430 AM CDT WED MAY 24 1989

...POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER NEXT 24 HOURS...
...MISSOURI SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK...

THERE IS A HIGH RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND POSSIBLY TORNADOES
ACROSS THE NORTHERN THIRD OF MISSOURI TODAY AND TONIGHT.  THERE IS A
SLIGHT CHANCE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE
STATE AS WELL.

VERY WARM..MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR WAS PUSHING INTO MISSSOURI EARLY
THIS MORNING ON STRONG SOUTHERLY WINDS.  TEMPERATURES TODAY WILL REACH
WELL INTO THE 80S WHILE DEW POINTS APPROACH 70 DEGREES.  THIS WILL
SET THE STAGE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.

A COLD FRONT WILL PUSH OUT OF THE PLAINS AND REACH THE MISSOURI BORDER
THIS EVENING.  ALONG THIS CONTRASTING LINE BETWEEN HOT MOIST AIR AND
COOLER DRIER AIR...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORECAST TO DEVELOP.

AS OF 430AM...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALREADY INDICATED IN
THE FAR NORTHEAST TIP OF MISSOURI.  ALTHOUGH THESE STORMS ARE
SEPERATE FROM THE SEVERE STORMS EXPECTED LATER TODAY..THEY ARE AN
INDICATION OF THE INSTABILITY IN THE ATMOSPHERE.

A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IS FORECAST TO DEVELOP LATER TODAY
IN THE PLAINS AND REACH NORTHWEST MISSOURI THIS EVENING.  THE VERY
STRONG WINDS AT THE EARTHS SURFACE AS WELL AS A FAVORABLE POSITION
OF THE JET STREAM INDICATE A LIKELYHOOD FOR TORNADOES WITH A FEW
OF THESE STORMS.

ONCE THE MAIN SQUALL LINE FORMS IT SHOULD CONTINUE TO MOVE RAPLDLY
EASTWARD THROUGH THE NIGHT AND EFFECT EASTERN SECTIONS OF THE STATE
WELL INTO THE NIGHT.

KEEP INFORMED ON THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION BY LISTENING
FOR ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE THROUGHOUT THE DAY.

FELDT
Special weather statement, May 24, 4:54 AM CDT, 5 hours 15 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAINT LOUIS, MO
450 AM CDT WED MAY 24 1989

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NORTHEAST MISSOURI UNTIL 7AM...

AT 450 AM..A LINE OF VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED ACROSS
THE NORTHERN PORTIONS OF SCHUYLER AND SCOTLAND COUNTIES.  THE
STRONGEST STORM WAS LOCATED JUST NORTH OF MEMPHIS IN SCOTLAND
COUNTY.

THESE STORMS ARE PRODUCING FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING..
AS WELL AS A CHANCE FOR HAIL OR HIGH WINDS.

BETWEEN 5 AND 6AM...VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE
REMAINDER OF SCHUYLER..SCOTLAND AND CLARK COUNTIES AND INTO PARTS
OF ADAIR AND KNOX COUNTIES.

PERSONS IN THESE COUNTIES SHOULD KEEP ALERT FOR POSSIBLE SEVERE
WEATHER.

FELDT
Special weather statement, May 24, 6:53 AM CDT, 3 hours 16 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAINT LOUIS, MO
700 AM CDT WED MAY 24 1989

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH EXPIRES...

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NO 311 WILL EXPIRE AT 7AM.  eONE REMAINING
STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED IN SOUTHEAST IOWA..AND IT COULD
MOVE ACROSS CLARK COUNTY MISSOURI BEFORE 8AM.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 24, 4:06 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXClark, Scotland69 min
May 24, 4:06 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXSchuyler69 min
May 24, 9:12 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXAdair, Knox48 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.