Alert archive / Missouri / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 20, NWS Kansas City, MO

April 20, 1997Bates County, Missouri

NWS Kansas City, MO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 20, 1997, 4:30 PM CDT for Bates County, Missouri. It was in force for 45 min. 1 report 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
Apr 20, 1997, 4:30 PM CDT (21:30 UTC)
Expired
Apr 20, 1997, 5:15 PM CDT
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Kansas City, MO
Area
Whole counties

County Bates County, MO

The radar

The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 62 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:30 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 20, 4:45 PM CDTHail 1Rich Hill, MOA Bates County severe weather spotter reported quarter-size hail 4 miles south of Rich Hill.

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.

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 140 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, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 1997-04-20Temperature 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, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 1997-04-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 169 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
1659 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
169 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
455 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 KMCI 202132
SVRMCI
MOC013-202215-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PLEASANT HILL/KANSAS CITY MO
430 PM CDT SUN APR 20 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  BATES COUNTY - WEST CENTRAL MISSOURI

* UNTIL 515 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    RICH HILL
    BUTLER
    ROCKVILLE

* AT 427 PM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 3 MILES SOUTH OF
  BUTLER MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* THIS STORM WILL PRODUCE 1 INCH HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING.



DJV

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.

NWS Kansas City, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Apr 20, 2:47 PM CDT, 1 hour 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 20, 2:47 PM CDT, 1 hour 43 minutes before
NORTHWEST MISSOURI FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PLEASANT HILL/KANSAS CITY MO
247 PM CDT SUN APR 20 1997

BIG QUESTION TODAY IS WHICH MODEL TO BELIEVE AFTER 24 HOURS. ETA
WEAKER AND FASTER WITH INITIAL H5 WAVE...BUT AT H7 AND H85 LEVELS
HAS TWO SYSTEMS IN THE FLOW...WITH A STRONGER H85 LOW IN NEW MEXICO
BY 36 HRS. ALL THREE MODELS HAVE A DIFFERENT SOLUTION FOR H85
PATTERN IN  MISSOURI BY 36 HRS WITH NGM STRONGEST AND DEEPEST. THIS
LOOKS A LITTLE OVERDONE...SO WILL LEAN TOWARD THE FASTER ETA
SOLUTION.

THAT WILL BRING A CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION TO FCST AREA BY AFTERNOON
ON MONDAY. NEXT WAVE DESCENDING RAPIDLY ON THE HEELS OF FIRST
WEAKER SHORT WAVE BY MONDAY NIGHT WHICH SHOULD HELP TO DEEPEN
TROUGH. HEAVIER RAIN SHOULD BE FOCUSED SOUTH OF THE REGION...BUT
WITH BAND OF H85 MOISTURE THROUGH AREA...WILL NEED TO KEEP IN POPS
FOR LIGHTER RAIN IN AREA THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT...AND IN EASTERN PART
OF FORECAST AREA ON TUESDAY.

FOR SHORT TERM...HAVING TO WATCH SOUTHERN PART OF THE FORECAST AREA
FOR CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT.  SYSTEM IS RAPIDLY MOVING SOUTHEAST SO
SHOULD SEE AN END TO PRECIPITATION IN MOST OF FORECAST AREA BY
MIDNIGHT.

MCI CC 045/060 043/058 042 99345

PC

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 20, 1:00 PM CDT, 3 hours 30 minutes before
KSZ025-057-060-102>105-MOZ001>008-011>017-020>025-028>033-037>040-
043>046-053-054-211200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PLEASANT HILL/KANSAS CITY MO
100 PM CDT SUN APR 20 1997

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP IN EXTREME SOUTHERN PORTION OF
OUTLOOK AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING...

FORECAST: NORTHERN MISSOURI AND NORTHEAST KANSAS MAINLY NORTH OF A
ST. JOSEPH TO MOBERLY LINE SHOULD JUST SEE SCATTERED SHOWERS THIS
AFTERNOON...ENDING FROM WEST TO EAST THIS EVENING.

FURTHER SOUTH...SHOWERS WILL ALSO BE OCCURRING...BUT THUNDERSTORMS
WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE AND THE ATMOSPHERE MAY BECOME UNSTABLE ENOUGH
IN THE EXTREME SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF THE OUTLOOK AREA THIS AFTERNOON
FOR STRONG THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP.  AREAS SOUTH OF A LINE FROM LA
CYGNE KANSAS TO ADRIAN AND CLINTON MISSOURI COULD SEE THESE
STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS THE LATTER HALF OF THIS AFTERNOON. IF THEY
DO DEVELOP...SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS WILL BE POSSIBLE. THOUGH
SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME...EMERGENCY
MANAGERS IN AREAS SOUTH OF KANSAS CITY SHOULD MONITOR THE WEATHER
SITUATION THIS AFTERNOON IF THUNDERSTORMS BEGIN TO DEVELOP.

DISCUSSION: A SURFACE LOW WILL MOVE FROM EAST CENTRAL KANSAS THIS
AFTERNOON TO THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF MISSOURI BY EARLY EVENING. IT
WAS ASSOCIATED WITH AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE THAT WILL BE MOVING
INTO WESTERN MISSOURI BY THIS EVENING. THE SURFACE LOW WILL TRY TO
PULL MOISTURE AND WARMER AIR NORTH INTO THE SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF
THE OUTLOOK AREA THIS AFTERNOON. THIS WILL HELP TO FEED THE SHOWERS
ALREADY IN THE REGION...AND MAY CAUSE STRONGER STORMS TO DEVELOP IN
SOUTHEAST KANSAS AND SOUTHWEST MISSOURI...SOME WHICH MAY CLIP THE
SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF THE OUTLOOK AREA.

PC

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Missouri, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1997

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.