Alert archive / Missouri / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Springfield, MO

April 20, 1997Benton County, Missouri

NWS Springfield, MO issued this tornado warning at Apr 20, 1997, 5:44 PM CDT for Benton County, Missouri. It was in force for 51 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, 5:44 PM CDT (22:44 UTC)
Expired: Apr 20, 1997, 6:35 PM CDT
In force: 51 min
Issued by: NWS Springfield, MO
Area: Whole counties

County Benton County, MO

The radar

The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 102 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:45 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 20, 5:50 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Fairfield, 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

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 162 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 2121 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 112 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 215 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 KSGF 202244 RRA
TORSGF
MOC015-202335-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
544 PM CDT SUN APR 20 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  SOUTHERN BENTON COUNTY - CENTRAL MISSOURI

* UNTIL 635 PM CDT
 
* SOME AREAS AFFECTED
  FAIRFIELD BY 550 PM

* AT 542 PM SPRINGFIELD DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO
  NORTHEAST OF ICONIUM...NEAR THE BENTON ST CLAIR LINE.
THIS STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.
 
DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO OUTRUN A TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY TOSSED
AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS.  IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A
TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING.  IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

JDG/SR/GJ

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 20, 4:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SGF	St. Clair	48 min
Apr 20, 5:11 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	SGF	St. Clair	34 min
Apr 20, 5:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SGF	Benton	66 min
Apr 20, 5:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SGF	Hickory, St. Clair	48 min
Apr 20, 5:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SGF	Barton, Dade	64 min
Apr 20, 6:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	SGF	Hickory	47 min
Apr 20, 6:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SGF	Newton	48 min
Apr 20, 6:23 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	SGF	Camden	47 min
Apr 20, 6:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SGF	Benton, St. Clair	35 min
Apr 20, 6:40 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	SGF	Barton, Dade	50 min
Apr 20, 6:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SGF	Dallas, Hickory, Polk	47 min
Apr 20, 6:58 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	SGF	Pulaski	47 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Missouri, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.