Alert archive / Missouri / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 58, NWS St. Louis, MO

May 17, 1997Saint Francois County, Missouri

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 17, 1997, 8:48 PM CDT for Saint Francois County, Missouri. It was in force for 57 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 17, 1997, 8:48 PM CDT (01:48 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 1997, 9:45 PM CDT
In force: 57 min
Issued by: NWS St. Louis, MO
Area: Whole counties

County Saint Francois County, MO

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 101 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:47 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 00:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 306 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 4 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -25 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2606 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 0 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 32 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.

385 
WUUS1 KSTL 180151 RRA
SVRSTL
MOC187-180245-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
848 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI
 
   ...ST. FRANCOIS COUNTY
 
AT 845 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST WEST OF BONNE TERRE IN ST FRANCOIS COUNTY.
THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING 3/4 TO 1 INCH HAIL.
 
PERSONS IN BONNE TERRE...LEADWOOD...FLAT RIVER SHOULD REMAIN ALERT
FOR THE POSSIBLITY OF LARGE HAIL.
 
THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF DAMAGING HAIL. STAY INSIDE AND AWAY
FROM WINDOWS.
 
TPS
 
&

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 17, 2:53 PM CDT, 5 hours 55 minutes before

MOZ042-041-050-010-048-072-062-059-084-018-019-065-052-085-027-047-
051-034-049-036-035-099-061-075-074-063-064-009-026-060-073-ILZ095-
064-096-098-069-065-058-099-059-100-070-102-060-097-079-101-074-
181100-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK   ...UPDATED...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
245 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 1997

THIS OUTLOOK COVERS THE COUNTY WARNING AREA OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE IN ST. LOUIS. AREAS INCLUDED ARE PARTS OF
CENTRAL...NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI...AND SOUTHWEST
ILLINOIS.

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT THIS
AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST AND CENTRAL MISSOURI.
THE AFFECTED REGION IS AN AREA GENERALLY NORTH AND WEST OF A LINE FROM
BURLINGTON IOWA TO FORT LEONARD WOOD MISSOURI TO JOPLIN MISSOURI.

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER NORTH CENTRAL
AND EASTERN KANSAS THIS AFTERNOON AND MOVE EAST THIS EVENING AND
TONIGHT. SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE AS CONDITIONS
BECOME FAVORABLE FOR LARGE HAIL AND STRONG SURFACE WINDS. SKYWARN
OPERATIONS MAY BECOME NECESSARY BY EVENING. SPOTTERS SHOULD KEEP
ADVISED OF WEATHER CONDITIONS IN CASE SKYWARN ACTIVATION WOULD BE
NEEDED.

THERE IS A CHANCE FOR MODERATE TO STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE
REST OF THE STATE TO THE SOUTH AND EAST OF THE SLIGHT RISK AREA.

THERE WILL BE AN EVEN BETTER CHANCE FOR LOCALLY SEVERE STORMS
SUNDAY OVER MUCH OF MISSOURI.

BECHTOLD
!...UPDATED TO EXTEND AREA OF SLIGHT RISK FURTHER SOUTH AND EAST...

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 17, 8:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Washington	69 min
May 17, 9:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Iron	42 min
May 17, 9:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Crawford	31 min
May 17, 9:49 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LSX	Crawford	26 min
May 17, 10:05 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Washington	40 min
May 17, 10:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Crawford	47 min
May 18, 12:15 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Franklin	45 min
May 18, 7:11 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Knox	49 min
May 18, 7:42 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Clark	48 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Missouri, 1997 Every 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.