Alert archive / Missouri / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 38, NWS St. Louis, MO

April 15, 1998Madison County, Missouri

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this tornado warning at Apr 15, 1998, 8:39 PM CDT for Madison County, Missouri. It was in force for 51 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
Apr 15, 1998, 8:39 PM CDT (01:39 UTC)
Expired
Apr 15, 1998, 9:30 PM CDT
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS St. Louis, MO
Area
Whole counties

County Madison County, MO

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 139 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:42 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 15, 8:39 PM CDTTornado F1Saco, MO
Apr 15, 9:10 PM CDTHail 0.75Roselle, MOCounty sheriff reported 3/4 inch hail near Roselle.

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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 15, 4:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 297 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, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 1998-04-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1219 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 1998-04-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 100 square meters per square second.1939587897117136156Sfc1 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
1219 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
868 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
100 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
136 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
2.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

609 
WFUS1 KSTL 160141 RRA
TORSTL
MOC123-160230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
839 PM CDT WED APR 15 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  MADISON COUNTY MISSOURI IN SOUTHEASTERN MISSOURI

* UNTIL 930 PM CDT

* AT 838 PM CDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A TORNADO JUST SOUTHEAST OF SACO... MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST 30 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH...
  SACO
  MARQUAND

DOPPLER RADAR IS SHOWING A STRONG TORNADO SIGNAL. IF YOU ARE IN
THE PATH MOVE TO A SHELTER NOW A BASEMENT IS BEST...BUT IF NOT
AVAILABLE...MOVE TO THE LOWEST LEVEL AND HIDE IN A SMALL INTERIOR
ROOM. GET OUT OF MOBILE HOMES AND CARS IN FAVOR OF A STRONG
BUILDING.

METZE/GLASS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 15, 8:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMadison50 min
Apr 15, 8:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXIron46 min
Apr 15, 9:19 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXMadison46 min
Apr 15, 9:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXSainte Genevieve, Saint Francois63 min
Apr 15, 11:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXSaint Charles48 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Missouri, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes in 1998

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.