Alert archive / Missouri / Tornado Warnings in 2002
Tornado Warning 20, NWS St. Louis, MO
NWS St. Louis, MO issued this tornado warning at May 12, 2002, 6:07 PM CDT for Sainte Genevieve County, Saint Francois County, Washington County, Missouri. It was in force for 38 min. 8 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- May 12, 2002, 6:07 PM CDT (23:07 UTC)
- Expired
- May 12, 2002, 6:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 38 min
- Issued by
- NWS St. Louis, MO
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
Counties Saint Francois County, MO, Sainte Genevieve County, MO, Washington County, MO
The radar
The St Louis radar (KLSX), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:07 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 12, 6:10 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 55 E | Potosi, MO | |
| May 12, 6:10 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Hopewell, MO | A small tornado hit just north of Hopewell. Damaged was limited to downed and snapped trees. |
| May 12, 6:15 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 55 E | Potosi, MO | |
| May 12, 6:15 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 60 E | Park Hills, MO | |
| May 12, 6:18 PM CDT | Tornado F1 | Frankclay, MO | A tornado initially formed just north of Frankclay and then traveled east through Desloge for about 7 miles. The bulk of the damage was to trees and utility poles. As the tornado entered Desloge, a few homes and a Middle School near Elm Street suffered minor |
| May 12, 6:20 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 60 E | Bonne Terre, MO | |
| May 12, 6:30 PM CDT | Hail 0.88 | Potosi, MO | Storm spotters reported nickel size hail in Potosi. |
| May 12, 6:50 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 60 E | Weingarten, MO | The County Sheriff reported trees down on several roads in the Weingarten area. |
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 nearest sounding before it
Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 299 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 77 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -142 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 829 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 75 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 163 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -16 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WFUS53 KLSX 122307 TORSTL MOC186-187-221-122345- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO 607 PM CDT SUN MAY 12 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... WASHINGTON COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI ST. FRANCOIS COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST MISSOURI STE. GENEVIEVE COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST MISSOURI * UNTIL 645 PM CDT * AT 607 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION NEAR POTOSI. THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH...AND MAY PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY TIME * LOCATIONS IN THE PATH... OLD MINES MINERAL POINT CADET BLACKWELL BONNE TERRE 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 MOVE TO A BASEMENT...UNDERGROUND STORM SHELTER...OR AN INTERIOR ROOM OR HALLWAY ON THE LOWEST LEVEL OF A STURDY BUILDING. LAT...LON 3803 9093 3786 9091 3782 9013 3808 9017 TRUETT
The office that day
Everything else NWS St. Louis, MO issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 11, 10:03 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | 42 min | |
| May 11, 11:18 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LSX | Knox | 6 hr |
| May 12, 1:15 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LSX | Lewis, Shelby | 6 hr |
| May 12, 1:50 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LSX | Marion | 6 hr |
| May 12, 4:50 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LSX | Lincoln, Saint Charles, Warren | 6 hr |
| May 12, 1:06 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | 39 min | |
| May 12, 1:40 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | 35 min | |
| May 12, 2:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | 45 min | |
| May 12, 2:04 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | 26 min | |
| May 12, 2:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | 51 min | |
| May 12, 2:41 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | 49 min | |
| May 12, 3:39 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | 51 min | |
| May 12, 4:29 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LSX | Saint Charles, Saint Louis | 6 hr |
| May 12, 5:02 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | 28 min | |
| May 12, 5:17 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | 28 min | |
| May 12, 5:36 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | 24 min | |
| May 12, 6:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | 45 min | |
| May 12, 6:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | 44 min | |
| May 12, 6:44 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LSX | Sainte Genevieve | 46 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Missouri, 2002Every tornado warning in 2002Tornadoes in 2002
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.