Alert archive / Missouri / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1991

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 7, NWS St. Louis, MO

March 17, 1991Franklin County, Saint Charles County, Saint Louis County, Missouri

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 17, 1991, 2:55 PM CST for Franklin County, Saint Charles County, Saint Louis County, Missouri. It was in force for 50 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, 1991, 2:55 PM CST (20:55 UTC)
Expired
Mar 17, 1991, 3:45 PM CST
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS St. Louis, MO
Area
Whole counties

Counties Franklin County, MO, Saint Charles County, MO, Saint Louis County, MO

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 17, 3:00 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 0Franklin, MO
Mar 17, 3:20 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 52St. 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, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 247 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 1991-03-17Temperature 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 1991-03-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 201 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1176 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
201 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
251 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 172054
SVRSTL
MOC071-183-189-172145-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
255 PM CST SUN MAR 17 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  345 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI
 
   ...NORTHEASTERN FRANKLIN COUNTY...SOUTHERN ST CHARLES COUNTY
   ...ST LOUIS COUNTY
 
AT 245 PM CST RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN EXTREME
NORTHERN FRANKLIN COUNTY NEAR WASHINGTON MISSOURI. THIS STORM WAS
MOVING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. COMMUNITIES OF CHESTERFIELD
MISSOURI AND BABLER STATE PARK WILL BE IN CLOSE PROXIMITY TO THIS
STORM.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

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, 12:22 PM CST, 2 hours 33 minutes before
MOZ010-171915-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA MO
1220 PM CST SUN MAR 17 1991

...A NARROW BAND OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS
CENTRAL MISSOURI...

AT 1220 PM A NARROW BAND OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS 5 MILES WIDE
EXTENDED FROM 5 MILES NORTHEAST OF THE CITY OF COLUMBIA TO
JEFFERSON CITY MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR. THESE
THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCED PEA SIZED HAIL JUST WEST OF COLUMBIA
AT NOON...AND BRIEF GUSTY WINDS OF 40 TO 45 MILES AN HOUR.
A SHORT PERIOD OF VERY HEAVY RAIN ALSO ACCOMPANIED THESE
THUNDERSTORM AS THEY MOVED NORTHEAST.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE THROUGH CALLAWAY AND AUDRAIN COUNTIES
BETWEEN 1220 AND 100 PM THIS AFTERNOON.

LA GREE
]
Local storm report, Mar 17, 2:20 PM CST, 35 minutes before
MO010-172030-

PRELIMINARY STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA MO
215 PM CST SUN MAR 17 1991

TIME         COUNTY    REPORT
1150 AM      BOONE     PEA SIZED HAIL 5 MILES WEST OF COLUMBIA.

1250 PM      CALLAWAY  GOLF BALL SIZED HAIL REPORTED AT GASPERS TRUCK
                       PLAZA IN KINGDOM CITY.

100 PM       AUDRAIN    PEA TO MARBLE SIZED HAIL NEAR MEXICO.

120 PM       MONTGOMERY 1/2 TO 3/4 INCH HAIL COMPLETELY COVERED THE
                        GROUND IN AND AROUND MONTGOMERY CITY.

147 PM       MONTGOMERY 3/4 INCH HAIL PELTING HIGH HILL. POWER LINES
                        DOWN.

LA GREE
Special weather statement, Mar 17, 2:34 PM CST, 21 minutes before
MOZ010-011-012-013-014-017-018-171000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
225 PM CST SUN MAR 17 1991

...THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING JUST WEST OF ST LOUIS...

THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING SINCE 130 PM TO THE WEST OF
ST LOUIS IN WESTERN WARREN AND NORTHWEST FRANKLIN COUNTIES.

AT 225 PM THE HEAVIEST STORMS WERE JUST WEET OF WARRENTON AND ABOUT
10 MILES WEST OF WASHINGTON MISSOURI.  SIMILAR STORMS FURTHER NORTH AND
WEST SPEWED SMALL HAIL WHICH COVERED THE GROUND.

THESE STORMS WILL BE MOVING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.  PERSONS
IN THE COMMUNITIES OF WENTZVILLE AND LAKE ST LOUIS ALONG INTERSTATE
70 WILL BE IN THE PATH OF THE NORTHERN STORM...WHILE THE COMMUNITIES
OF WASHINGTON AND AUGUSTA..AS WELL AS POSSIBLY BABLER STATE PARK WILL
BE NEAREST THE SOUTHERN STORM.
KEEP ABREAST OF LATEST WEATHER DEVELOPMENTS IN YOUR AREA AND STAY
TUNED FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE.

PEDIGO

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 17, 1:42 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXLincoln63 min
Mar 17, 4:20 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXJefferson25 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.