Alert archive / Missouri / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 9, NWS St. Louis, MO

May 17, 2001Boone County, Missouri

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this tornado warning at May 17, 2001, 4:20 PM CDT for Boone County, Missouri. It was in force for 40 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 17, 2001, 4:20 PM CDT (21:20 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 2001, 5:00 PM CDT
In force: 40 min
Issued by: NWS St. Louis, MO
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Boone County, MO

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 151 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:20 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 17, 4:30 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Midway, MO	Several people witnessed a brief tornado form near the Midway Truck Stop. There was no reported damage.
May 17, 4:45 PM CDT	Hail 0.88	Columbia, MO	Storm spotters reported nickle size hail at Stadium Blvd and I-70.
May 17, 5:04 PM CDT	Hail 0.88	Columbia, MO
May 17, 5:04 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 53 E	Columbia, 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 17, 1:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 271 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: 1485 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -86 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 710 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 42 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 125 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.

000 
WFUS53 KLSX 172120
TORSTL
MOC019-172200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
420 PM CDT THU MAY 17 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  BOONE COUNTY IN CENTRAL MISSOURI

* UNTIL 500 PM CDT

* AT 420 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION OVER MIDWAY...MOVING EAST AT 15
  MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH...
  MIDWAY
  MCBAINE
  COLUMBIA
  MURRY

THIS TORNADO WARNING IS AN UPGRADE TO THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
PREVIOUSLY ISSUED FOR THE WARNED AREA.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM...SEEK SHELTER NOW A BASEMENT
OFFERS THE BEST PROTECTION. IF A BASEMENT IS NOT AVAILABLE...MOVE TO
THE LOWEST FLOOR AND SEEK SHELTER IN A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM. STAY AWAY
FROM OUTSIDE WALLS AND WINDOWS. MOBILE HOMES SHOULD BE ABANDONED IN
FAVOR OF A MORE SUBSTANTIAL STRUCTURE. DO NOT TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO
IN A VEHICLE.

LAT...LON 3922 9246 3898 9257 3881 9238 3887 9216
          3925 9213
$$

RP/EL

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 17, 3:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Boone	56 min
May 17, 4:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Franklin, Gasconade	32 min
May 17, 5:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Boone	42 min
May 17, 5:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Franklin, Gasconade	32 min
May 17, 5:30 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LSX	Boone	2 hr
May 17, 5:52 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Callaway	38 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.