Alert archive / Missouri / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 46, NWS St. Louis, MO

May 23, 1998Saint Charles County, Saint Louis County, Missouri

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this tornado warning at May 23, 1998, 5:59 PM CDT for Saint Charles County, Saint Louis County, Missouri. It was in force for 51 min. 4 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: May 23, 1998, 5:59 PM CDT (22:59 UTC)
Expired: May 23, 1998, 6:50 PM CDT
In force: 51 min
Issued by: NWS St. Louis, MO
Area: Whole counties

Counties Saint Charles County, MO, Saint Louis County, MO

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 11 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:59 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
May 23, 6:05 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 51	Florissant, MO
May 23, 6:05 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 60	Harvester, MO
May 23, 6:12 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 51	St Charles Arpt, MO
May 23, 6:15 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52	Rock Hill, 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 watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 23, 3:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 232 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: 64 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -431 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 556 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 142 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 186 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 4.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

836 
WFUS1 KSTL 232300 RRA
TORSTL
MOC183-189-232350-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
559 PM CDT SAT MAY 23 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN ST CHARLES COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI
  NORTHERN ST LOUIS COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI

* UNTIL 650 PM CDT

* AT 600 PM... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 4 MILES SOUTH OF ST CHARLES... MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35
  MPH.


* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH...
  ST CHARLES
  HAZELWOOD
  FLORISSANT


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.

FG/GKS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 23, 4:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Cole, Osage	50 min
May 23, 4:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Callaway	46 min
May 23, 5:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Callaway	33 min
May 23, 5:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Jefferson	45 min
May 23, 5:34 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Audrain, Montgomery	46 min
May 23, 5:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Audrain, Boone	48 min
May 23, 6:20 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LSX	Pike	50 min
May 23, 6:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Monroe	51 min

Nearby

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