Alert archive / Missouri / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 18, NWS St. Louis, MO

May 18, 2000Saint Charles County, Saint Louis County, Missouri

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this tornado warning at May 18, 2000, 4:16 PM CDT for Saint Charles County, Saint Louis County, Missouri. It was in force for 29 min. 4 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 18, 2000, 4:16 PM CDT (21:16 UTC)
Expired: May 18, 2000, 4:45 PM CDT
In force: 29 min
Issued by: NWS St. Louis, MO
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

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

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 7 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:18 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
May 18, 4:20 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 56 E	O Fallon, MO
May 18, 4:25 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 56 E	New Melle, MO
May 18, 4:39 PM CDT	Hail 0.88	Bridgeton, MO	Storm spotters reported nickel size hail.
May 18, 4:40 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	St Charles, MO	Storm spotters reported 3/4 inch hail in St. Charles.

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 18, 3:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 239 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: 557 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -308 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1218 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 328 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 351 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KLSX 182117
TORSTL
MOC183-189-182145-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
416 PM CDT THU MAY 18 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 445 PM CDT

* AT 416 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 2
  MILES SOUTHEAST OF NEW MELLE...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH...
  DARDENNE PRAIRIE
  O'FALLON
  CHESTERFIELD
  ST. PETERS
  BRECKENRIDGE HILLS

IF YOU ARE IN A VEHCILE...LEAVE IT IMMEDIATELY AND GO TO A STRONG
BUILDING. DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO. CARS ARE
EASILY TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS. IF NO STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...
SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

LAT...LON 3875 9098 3858 9090 3866 9030 3896 9028
          3884 9092

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 18, 3:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Saint Charles, Warren	46 min
May 18, 4:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Crawford	46 min
May 18, 4:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Saint Charles, Saint Louis	47 min
May 18, 5:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Franklin, Washington	42 min
May 18, 5:34 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Jefferson	26 min
May 18, 5:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Saint Louis, City of Saint Louis	22 min
May 18, 6:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Reynolds	46 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Missouri, 2000 Every tornado warning in 2000 Tornadoes in 2000

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.