Alert archive / Missouri / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 72, NWS Paducah, KY

July 30, 1998Stoddard County, Missouri

NWS Paducah, KY issued this tornado warning at Jul 30, 1998, 6:19 PM CDT for Stoddard County, Missouri. It was in force for 41 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: Jul 30, 1998, 6:19 PM CDT (23:19 UTC)
Expired: Jul 30, 1998, 7:00 PM CDT
In force: 41 min
Issued by: NWS Paducah, KY
Area: Whole counties

County Stoddard County, MO

The radar

The Paducah radar (KPAH), 107 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:16 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

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 225 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: 139 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -210 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1875 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 47 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 31 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.

456 
WFUS1 KPAH 302318 RRA
TORPAH
MOC207-310000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
619 PM CDT THU JUL 30 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PADUCAH HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 700 PM CDT

* AT 615 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO JUST EAST OF ROMBAUER...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH. THE
  BUTLER COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE HAS RECIEVED SEVERAL REPORTS OF
  FUNNEL CLOUDS IN THIS AREA.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  DUDLEY AT 635 PM CDT
  PYLETOWN AT 645 PM CDT

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN
THE PATH OF THIS 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.

&

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 Jul 30, 1:15 PM CDT, 5 hours 4 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 30, 1:15 PM CDT, 5 hours 4 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
115 PM CDT THU JUL 30 1998

IR IMAGERY ENHANCEMENT SHOWS TRI-PLEX MCS TRAIN WITH TWO DECAYED
SYSTEMS ON FRONT AND BACK END. TOPS OF CENTER COMLEX APPEAR TO BE
WARMING AND THUS INDICATING IT TOO IS STARTING TO DECAY....ALTHOUGH
THERE CONTS TO BE SOME ENHANCEMENT ON THE REAR EDGE OF THE CENTER
COMPLEX CLOSEST TO THE CLEARING LINE. HIGH THETA AIR AND GOOD LOW LEVEL
MOISTURE OVER FA IS STILL PROVIDING THIS SYSTEM WITH ENOUGH FUEL TO
PRODUCE SOME DECENT RAINS OVER PAH FA...EVEN AS TOPS WARM.
FORTUNATELY...MOST OF THIS RAIN IS NOW FALLING OVER SOME OF THE DRIER
GROUNDS AND THUS NOT OF IMMEDIATE CONCERN.

VIS IMAGERY SHOWS BREAKS TO SW STARTING TO FILL IN WITH SCT TSRA
DEVELOPMENT...AND THIS SHOULD CONT TO BE THE CASE THROUGH THE AFTERNOON
AND EARLY EVENING TODAY...AS STILL HIGH INSTABILITY/GOOD LOW LEVEL
MOISTURE REMAINS IN PLACE OVER FA.

AS FRONT TO NORTH SAGS SOUTH TOWARD OH RIVER TONIGHT...EXPECT ANOTHER
NIGHT-TIME ROUND OF MCS/TSRA TO AFFECT FA. HOWEVER...IT MAY OCCUR
EARLIER IN THE NIGHT THAN THE PAST COUPLE OF NIGHTS...EVEN IF NEW
MODELS ARE RUSHING FRONT SOUTHWARD TOO FAST. THUS AFTER HIGH POPS
TONIGHT...ESPECIALLY EARLY...FEEL POPS WL DROP OFF LATE TONIGHT/FRI
MORNING AS FRONT PUSHES ON THROUGH AND DRIER AIR...WHICH IS LAGGING
SOME BEHIND ACTUAL FRONT...WEDGES INTO LOWER OH VALLEY AND HOPEFULLY
PROVIDES AT LEAST TEMPORARY REPRIEVE FROM RECENT DAYS WX.

MAIN CONCERN TONIGHT WL BE FLASH FLOOD WATCH...PARTICULARLY
SEMO...WHICH PRELIMINARILY I WL GO AHEAD AND INCLUDE ON OUR ADM.
RECOMMEND MONITOR OF NEW FFG THAT COMES OUT...EXTENT OF RAINS THROUGH
THE AFTERNOON...AND THEN COORDINATE CLOSER TO ISSUANCE TIME ON FINAL
DECISION.

DH

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 30, 12:08 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	PAH	Ripley	3 hr
Jul 30, 5:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Wayne	59 min
Jul 30, 5:39 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	PAH	Butler, Wayne	31 min
Jul 30, 5:39 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	PAH	Butler, Wayne	21 min
Jul 30, 6:04 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Butler, Stoddard	56 min
Jul 30, 6:29 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	PAH	Butler	31 min
Jul 30, 6:59 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	PAH	Butler, Carter, Ripley	4 hr
Jul 30, 6:59 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	PAH	New Madrid, Stoddard	4 hr

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.