Alert archive / Missouri / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 7, NWS Kansas City, MO

March 24, 1997Harrison County, Missouri

NWS Kansas City, MO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 24, 1997, 6:36 PM CST for Harrison County, Missouri. It was in force for 39 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
Mar 24, 1997, 6:36 PM CST (00:36 UTC)
Expired
Mar 24, 1997, 7:15 PM CST
In force
39 min
Issued by
NWS Kansas City, MO
Area
Whole counties

County Harrison County, MO

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 155 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:38 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
Mar 24, 6:41 PM CSTHail 1.75Bethany, 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 206 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 00:00Z on 1997-03-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 853 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, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 1997-03-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 48 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
853 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1673 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
48 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
88 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

628 
WUUS1 KMCI 250036 RRA
SVRMCI
MOC081-250115-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PLEASANT HILL/KANSAS CITY MO
636 PM CST MON MAR 24 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  HARRISON COUNTY - NORTHWEST MISSOURI

* UNTIL 715 PM CST
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    BETHANY
    RIDGEWAY
    CAINSVILLE

* AT 632 PM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST SOUTH OF
  BETHANY MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE NEAR RIDGEWAY AT 650 PM AND CAINSVILLE AT 700
  PM.   THIS STORM WILL PRODUCE HAIL IN EXCESS OF 1 INCH.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.  FOR
YOUR SAFETY...MOVE INDOORS AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND
OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES.

BROWNING

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 Mar 24, 2:34 PM CST, 4 hours 2 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 24, 2:34 PM CST, 4 hours 2 minutes before
NORTHWEST MISSOURI FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PLEASANT HILL/KANSAS CITY MO
233 PM CST MON MAR 24 1997

LOOKS LIKE FIRST POTENTIAL SVR WX EVENT OF SEASON SHAPING UP OVR ERN
KS/WRN MO. SFC ANLYS AT 19Z SHWS WRM FNT XTND FM NR FNB TO JUST S OF
IRK AND CD FNT FM ERN SD/ERN NE BACK TO DDC. EAX 88-D AND PROFILER SHW
50 KT + LO LVL JET PUSHING NWRD INTO CWA. AFT MODIFYING CRTN AM SNDG TO
ACCOUNT FOR INCREASED LOW LVL JET...0-3 KM HELICITY VALUES DROPPED TO
MID 80S. REAL THREAT FOR TORNADIC ACTIVITY NOW APPRS TO BE INVOF OF
DVLPG SFC LO AND BASED ON CURRENT PRES ANLYS THAT WOULD BE ALG TOP STJ
3OI CORRIDOR. HOWEVER WITH STEEP LAPSE RATES AND STG MSTR ADVT/CNVGNC
THINK THAT LARGE HAIL STILL DECENT POSSIBILITY OVR GOOD PORTION OF CWA.
VIS LOOP SHWS DVLPG CU IN AREA OF LOWERING LI'S SO THINKING ATTM IS FOR
TSTMS TO BEGIN FIRING AHD OF CD FNT IN 2200-0000 UTC TIME PRD. WILL NOT
MAKE SGFNT CHNGS TO FCT FOR TNT KEEPING HIGHER POPS IN TACT AND WILL
TAILOR WORDING TWDS POTENTIALLY SVR WX. ANTICIPATE WW FM SPC DURING
NEXT CPL OF HRS SO WILL HOLD WRK ZNS TILL LAST MINUTE.

MODELS ALL OFFERING DIFFERENT SOLNS THIS LATEST RUN. WV LOOP SHWS JET
DIGGING SWRD FM GRT BASIN AREA INTO FOUR CORNERS AND WITH BLDG HGTS
UPSTREAM OVER BRITTISH COLUMBIA PREFER AVN SOLN WITH CLOSED LO DVLPG
OVR NRN AZ. BELIEVE THAT NGM SHEARS UPPR LO TO NE TOO FAST AND ETA
CLOSING SW LO OFF TOO FAR S. THEREFORE WILL NOT BUY INTO FAST CLRG FOR
TUE AND WILL LEAVE CLDS AND CRNT POPS IN TACT. WILL GO WITH CLRG FOR
TUE NITE AS FCST FRONTOGENETIC FORCING GRADIENT MVS EWRD. PREFER
SLIGHTLY COOLER FAN GUIDANCE FOR TUE THRU WED TIME PRD.

MCI WU 040/047 033/060 043 99+30

BODNER

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Mar 24, 1:12 PM CST, 5 hours 24 minutes before
KSZ025-057-060-102>105-MOZ001>008-011>017-020>025-028>033-037>040-
043>046-053-054-251200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PLEASANT HILL/KANSAS CITY MO
112 PM CST MON MAR 24 1997

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

FORECAST:  THERE IS A CHANCE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LATE
THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS THE OUTLOOK AREA. SPOTTER
ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED ANYTIME AFTER 3 PM SO EMERGENCY MANAGERS
SHOULD STAY IN TOUCH WITH CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AS THE
AFTERNOON PROGESSES.

THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP BETWEEN 4 AND 7 PM WEST OF A
BETHANY...RICHMOND AND WARRENSBURG. TO THE EAST OF THIS LINE STORMS
ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AND MOVE OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE OUTLOOK
AREA AFTER 7 PM. THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING
WINDS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES CAN NOT BE RULED OUT.
AS THE STORMS MOVE SOUTHEAST AND SLOW DOWN IN MOVEMENT FLASH
FLOODING WILL BE AN ADDED THREAT. THE FLOOD THREAT IS MAINLY SOUTH
AND EAST OF BUTLER...WARRENSBURG...MARSHALL AND MOBERLY.

DISCUSSION:  SUNNY INTERVALS WILL HELP BOOST TEMPERATURES UP INTO
THE MIDDLE 70S THIS AFTERNOON AND AS MOISTURE RAPIDY INCREASES FROM
THE SOUTH THE ATMOSPHERE WILL CONTINUE TO DESTABILIZE.
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP IN THIS UNSTABLE AIR BETWEEN
4 AND 7 PM AS A COLD FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE NORTHWEST. A STRONG
UPPER LEVEL STORM WILL MOVE OUT OF THE SOUTHERN ROCKIES LATER THIS
EVENING PROVIDING ADDITIONAL FUEL FOR SEVERE WEATHER.

BODNER

The office that day

Everything else NWS Kansas City, MO issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 24, 6:06 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXGrundy, Mercer, Putnam, Sullivan59 min
Mar 24, 6:48 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXClay62 min
Mar 24, 6:53 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXJackson52 min
Mar 24, 7:06 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXCaldwell, Ray59 min
Mar 24, 7:47 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXClay, Jackson, Ray43 min
Mar 24, 8:04 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningEAXJackson4 hr
Mar 24, 8:17 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningEAXJackson4 hr
Mar 24, 8:32 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXJackson43 min

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.