Alert archive / Missouri / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 31, NWS St. Louis, MO

December 18, 2002Franklin County, Gasconade County, Missouri

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this tornado warning at Dec 18, 2002, 4:34 PM CST for Franklin County, Gasconade County, Missouri. It was in force for 26 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Dec 18, 2002, 4:34 PM CST (22:34 UTC)
Expired
Dec 18, 2002, 5:00 PM CST
In force
26 min
Issued by
NWS St. Louis, MO
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Franklin County, MO, Gasconade County, MO

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 68 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:34 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

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 280 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2002-12-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 894 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Springfield, MO at 12:00Z on 2002-12-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 425 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
894 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
549 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
69 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
425 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
449 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.4
Supercell composite
8.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KLSX 182234
TORSTL
MOC071-073-182300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
434 PM CST WED DEC 18 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHWESTERN FRANKLIN COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI
  NORTHERN GASCONADE COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI

* UNTIL 500 PM CST

* AT 434 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  NEAR SWISS. THE WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH...AND MAY PRODUCE A
  TORNADO AT ANY TIME

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH...
  BERGER
  NEW HAVEN

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 3860 9165 3847 9148 3860 9115 3872 9132
          3869 9150

RP

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 17, 9:32 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX43 min
Dec 17, 9:59 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX46 min
Dec 17, 10:33 PM CSTTornado WarningLSXPike42 min
Dec 17, 10:57 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX48 min
Dec 17, 11:12 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX48 min
Dec 17, 11:22 PM CSTTornado WarningLSXLincoln23 min
Dec 17, 11:32 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX43 min
Dec 17, 11:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX30 min
Dec 18, 12:22 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX23 min
Dec 18, 12:38 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX37 min
Dec 18, 1:13 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX32 min
Dec 18, 1:46 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX29 min
Dec 18, 2:03 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX27 min
Dec 18, 2:10 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX35 min
Dec 18, 2:31 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX29 min
Dec 18, 2:50 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX25 min
Dec 18, 3:06 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX24 min
Dec 18, 3:18 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX42 min
Dec 18, 3:57 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX48 min
Dec 18, 10:18 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX27 min
Dec 18, 10:25 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX50 min
Dec 18, 11:07 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX23 min
Dec 18, 11:20 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningLSXFranklin, Saint Charles, Saint Louis, City of Saint Louis6 hr
Dec 18, 1:00 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX45 min
Dec 18, 1:27 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX48 min
Dec 18, 2:16 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX44 min
Dec 18, 2:47 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX43 min
Dec 18, 3:15 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX45 min
Dec 18, 3:31 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX44 min
Dec 18, 3:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX45 min
Dec 18, 3:49 PM CSTTornado WarningLSXPike26 min
Dec 18, 3:54 PM CSTTornado WarningLSXPike21 min
Dec 18, 4:08 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX22 min
Dec 18, 4:10 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX35 min
Dec 18, 4:30 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSX45 min
Dec 18, 4:39 PM CSTTornado WarningLSXFranklin, Gasconade21 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.