Alert archive / Missouri / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1991

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS St. Louis, MO

March 21, 1991Saint Louis County, City of Saint Louis, Missouri

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 21, 1991, 2:57 PM CST for Saint Louis County, City of Saint Louis, Missouri. It was in force for 33 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 21, 1991, 2:57 PM CST (20:57 UTC)
Expired
Mar 21, 1991, 3:30 PM CST
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS St. Louis, MO
Area
Whole counties

Counties City of Saint Louis, MO, Saint Louis County, MO

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 21, 3:03 PM CSTHail 1.75St. Louis, MO
Mar 21, 3:15 PM CSTHail 1.75St. 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, 9.0 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 1991-03-21Temperature 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 1991-03-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 362 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
978 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
65 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
362 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
384 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 212055
SVRSTL
MOC189-510-212130-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
257 PM CST THU MAR 21 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  330 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI
 
   ...ST LOUIS COUNTY
 
  AND THE INDEPENDENT CITY OF
 
   ...ST LOUIS CITY
 
AT 255 PM...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 25 MILES SOUTHWEST
OF ST LOUIS...OR ABOUT 5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF PACIFIC. THE STORM WAS
MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.
 
TUCKER
 
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.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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 21, 2:09 PM CST, 48 minutes before
MOZALL-222210-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
205 PM CST THU MAR 21 1991

...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM FOR MOST OF SOUTHWEST
   MISSOURI...

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTHWEST MISSOURI
DURING THE EARLY AFTERNOON ON THURSDAY. A NUMBER OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS WERE ISSUED FOR THAT AREA.

AT 2 PM ON WEATHER RADAR...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO LOCATED
20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF ROLLA...NEAR COOK STATION...IN SOUTHWEST
CRAWFORD COUNTY. THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH AND
WILL MOVE INTO THE KEYSVILLE AND CHERRYVILLE AREAS BY 220 PM.

DURING THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL
REMAIN POSSIBLE OVER ALL OF THE SOUTHERN HALF OF MISSOURI.

A TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES FOR SOUTHWEST MISSOURI UNTIL 7 PM.
TORNADOES CAN OFTEN OCCUR WITH NO ADVANCED WARNING. REMAIN ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER SITUATIONS AND STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER
RADIO OR LOCAL TV BROADCASTS FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS.

GOETSCH
Special weather statement, Mar 21, 2:35 PM CST, 22 minutes before
MOZ013-014-212130-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA MO
230 PM CDT THU APR 21 1991

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHERN AND EASTERN MISSOURI
   UNTIL 800 PM...

AT 230 PM THE COLUMBIA WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A DANGEROUS STORM MOVING
ACROSS THE LAKE OF THE OZARK...40 SOUTHWEST OF JEFFERSON CITY.  THE
STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.  OTHER THUNDERSTORMS
WERE LOCATED 30 MILES SOUTH OF SEDALIA AND 50 EAST OF ROLLA.

PERSONS IN WESTERN MORGAN AND NORTHERN MILLER COUNTY SHOULD BE ON THE
ALERT FOR CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.  HAIL...BRIEF HEAVY SHOWERS...
STRONG GUSTY WINDS...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING WILL ACCOMPANY THESE STORMS
AS THEY MOVE THROUGH CENTRAL MISSOURI.  A LAKE WIND ADVISORY IS ALSO IN
EFFECT.

PERLOW

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 21, 2:23 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXWashington52 min
Mar 21, 2:43 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXSaint Francois47 min
Mar 21, 2:51 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXFranklin, Jefferson54 min
Mar 21, 3:08 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXSainte Genevieve, Saint Francois52 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Missouri, 1991Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1991

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.