Alert archive / Missouri / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 23, NWS Kansas City, MO

September 20, 2001Andrew County, Buchanan County, Missouri

NWS Kansas City, MO issued this tornado warning at Sep 20, 2001, 6:32 PM CDT for Andrew County, Buchanan County, Missouri. It was in force for 43 min. 3 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: Sep 20, 2001, 6:32 PM CDT (23:32 UTC)
Expired: Sep 20, 2001, 7:15 PM CDT
In force: 43 min
Issued by: NWS Kansas City, MO
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Andrew County, MO, Buchanan County, MO

The radar

The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 112 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:35 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
Sep 20, 6:34 PM CDT	Tornado F0	St Joseph, MO	Brief tornado touchdown reported at 4th and Dolman. No damage or injuries.
Sep 20, 6:36 PM CDT	Tornado F0	St Joseph, MO	Brief tornado touchdown near 36th street and Farron. Tornado was reported to skip up and down. No injuries or damage.
Sep 20, 6:50 PM CDT	Hail 0.88	Cosby, 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
Sep 20, 5:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 110 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: 773 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -197 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1179 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 258 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 314 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.

368 
WFUS53 KEAX 202334
TORMCI
MOC003-021-210015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO
632 PM CDT THU SEP 20 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PLEASANT HILL HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHEASTERN ANDREW COUNTY IN NORTHWEST MISSOURI
  EASTERN BUCHANAN COUNTY IN NORTHWEST MISSOURI

* UNTIL 715 PM CDT

* AT 632 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  DEVELOPING TORNADO 4 MILES EAST OF ST JOSEPH...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT
  20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  AGENCY AT 645 PM CDT
  EASTON AT 650 PM CDT

AT 627 PM CDT A LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL REPORTED A BRIEF TORNADO 
TOUCHDOWN FIVE MILES NORTH OF SAINT JOSEPH. AT 634 PM CDT ANOTHER 
TOUCHDOWN WAS REPORTED IN NORTHWESTERN PORTIONS OF THE CITY.

&

LAT...LON 3986 9489 3973 9490 3954 9477 3954 9463
          3986 9463

The office that day

Everything else NWS Kansas City, MO issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 20, 5:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Holt	40 min
Sep 20, 5:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Andrew	48 min
Sep 20, 6:06 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Carroll, Ray	39 min
Sep 20, 6:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Chariton, Saline	51 min
Sep 20, 6:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Lafayette	51 min
Sep 20, 6:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Cooper, Howard	58 min
Sep 20, 6:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Cass	49 min
Sep 20, 6:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Clinton, DeKalb	48 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Missouri, 2001 Every tornado warning in 2001 Tornadoes in 2001

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.