Alert archive / Missouri / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Paducah, KY

March 27, 1998New Madrid County, Stoddard County, Missouri

NWS Paducah, KY issued this tornado warning at Mar 27, 1998, 8:45 PM CST for New Madrid County, Stoddard County, Missouri. It was in force for 30 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
Mar 27, 1998, 8:45 PM CST (02:45 UTC)
Expired
Mar 27, 1998, 9:15 PM CST
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Paducah, KY
Area
Whole counties

Counties New Madrid County, MO, Stoddard County, MO

The radar

The Paducah radar (KPAH), 99 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:47 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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Mar 27, 4:30 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 211 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 1998-03-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 764 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, Little Rock, AR at 00:00Z on 1998-03-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 245 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
764 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-25 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
760 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
245 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
320 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.3
Supercell composite
5.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

261 
WFUS1 KPAH 280248
TORPAH
MOC143-207-280315-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
845 PM CST FRI MAR 27 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PADUCAH KY HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 915 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN SOUTHEASTERN MISSOURI

   ...NEW MADRID COUNTY
   ...SOUTHEASTERN STODDARD COUNTY

A TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO MOVE THROUGH OR NEAR LAVELLE BY
900 PM. AT 845 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 40 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF POPLAR BLUFF NEAR RISCO. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 40
MPH.
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN
THE PATH OF THIS DEVELOPING TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND
IF AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR. AVOID WINDOWS AND DOORS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR
A STURDIER BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT. BEWARE OF
RISING WATER.

PRESLEY/NOLES

...CORRECTION TO DISTANCE FROM POPLAR BLUFF...

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Mar 27, 1:11 PM CST, 7 hours 34 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 27, 1:11 PM CST, 7 hours 34 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
111 PM CST FRI MAR 27 1998

18Z SURFACE CHART SHOWS LOW OVER SOUTHWEST KANSAS WITH WARM FRONT
EXTENDING INTO THE NORTHERN GREAT LAKES. SATELLITE AND KINX RADAR
DEPICT LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS FROM NEAR JLN TO FSM. HRY CHART CONFIRMS
THAT SOME STORMS HAVE PRODUCED WIND DAMAGE. MAIN FORECAST CHALLENGE FOR
TONIGHT INCLUDES TIMING AND TYPE OF THUNDERSTORMS.

ETA AND NGM SIMILAR WITH SOLUTIONS...BUT PREFER NGM INITIALIZATION AND
TIMING A LITTLE BETTER. NEGATIVELY TILTED SYSTEM WILL PUSH NORTHEAST
TO THE GREAT LAKES BY MIDDAY SATURDAY. BEST LIFT AT 00Z PLACED OVER
CENTRAL/SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...REACHING MISSISSIPPI RIVER JUST BEFORE
06Z. CURRENT STORM MOVEMENT WOULD SUPPORT THIS SOLUTION...WITH EVENING
TSTMS IN SOUTHEAST MISSOURI AND LATER IN THE EVENING WEST KY/SOUTH IL.

NGM GIVES HELICITIES IN EXCESS OF 600 M/S OVER SOUTHEAST MISSOURI AT
00Z...COINCIDING WITH BEST UVVS. WITH ON-GOING CONVECTION NOTED ON KINX
MOVING INTO THIS REGION BY AROUND 00Z THIS SHOULD BE BEST LOCATION FOR
SVR DEVELOPMENT. WITH TIGHT PRESSURE GRADIENT IN PLACE AND STORMS
APPROACHING...MAIN THREAT WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS. SINCE HEATING WILL BE
LOST DURING THE EVENING WE THINK THAT SVR THREAT WILL DECREASE
ACCORDINGLY EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER OVERNIGHT. MOS LOOKS OK WITH
LIKELY OVERNIGHT POPS.

BEST VERTICAL VELOCITIES MOVE TO SOUTHERN INDIANA BY 12Z SATURDAY...SO
THINK THAT SHWRS/TSTMS SHOULD END THERE DURING THE MORNING. FORECAST
SOUNDINGS INDICATE LOW CLOUDS WILL REMAIN ACROSS MUCH OF THE REGION
DURING THE MORNING...BUT THESE SHOULD ERODE WITH DAYTIME SUN AND DRY
AIR WRAPPING AROUND UPPER LOW. SOUTHEAST MISSOURI SHOULD SEE SOME
CLEARING BEFORE SUNRISE.

FWC HAS WARMED OVERNIGHT LOWS AT PAH AND EVV DURING THE PAST TWO RUNS.
BASED ON PAST FEW NIGHTS...THINK THAT EITHER GUIDANCE HAS FINALLY
CAUGHT UP WITH WARM MINS...OR STILL A TOUCH COOL. HOWEVER...RAIN COOLED
AIR MAY CHANGE ALL OF THAT. FOOD FOR THOUGHT.

CNJ/ML

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 27, 7:40 PM CST, 1 hour 5 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
740 PM CST FRI MAR 27 1998

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0733 PM    PUXICO                    MO   65 MPH TSTM GUST
03/27/98   STODDARD                       REPORT FROM SPOTTER

The office that day

Everything else NWS Paducah, KY issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 27, 7:06 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAHButler, Stoddard, Wayne64 min
Mar 27, 7:06 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAHBollinger64 min
Mar 27, 7:39 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAHPerry36 min
Mar 27, 7:49 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAHCape Girardeau41 min
Mar 27, 8:05 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAHRipley55 min
Mar 27, 8:35 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAHButler, Wayne40 min
Mar 27, 9:55 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAHNew Madrid35 min
Mar 27, 10:06 PM CSTTornado WarningPAHMississippi, New Madrid39 min
Mar 27, 10:17 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAHPerry28 min
Mar 27, 10:43 PM CSTTornado WarningPAHPerry32 min
Mar 27, 11:12 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAHButler33 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.