Alert archive / Missouri / Tornado Watches in 2002
Tornado Watch 159
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 27, 2002, 6:30 PM CDT for 14 counties in Illinois; 55 counties in Missouri. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 27, 2002, 6:30 PM CDT (23:30 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 28, 2002, 12:00 AM CDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 69 counties
Adams County, IL, Brown County, IL, Calhoun County, IL, Cass County, IL, Fulton County, IL, Greene County, IL, Hancock County, IL, Jersey County, IL, McDonough County, IL, Monroe County, IL, Morgan County, IL, Pike County, IL, Schuyler County, IL, Scott County, IL, Adair County, MO, Audrain County, MO, Benton County, MO, Boone County, MO, Callaway County, MO, Camden County, MO, Carroll County, MO, Chariton County, MO, City of Saint Louis, MO, Cole County, MO, Cooper County, MO, Crawford County, MO, Dallas County, MO, Dent County, MO, Franklin County, MO, Gasconade County, MO, Greene County, MO, Henry County, MO, Hickory County, MO, Howard County, MO, Jefferson County, MO, Johnson County, MO, Knox County, MO, Laclede County, MO, Lafayette County, MO, Lewis County, MO, Lincoln County, MO, Linn County, MO, Livingston County, MO, Macon County, MO, Maries County, MO, Marion County, MO, Miller County, MO, Moniteau County, MO, Monroe County, MO, Montgomery County, MO, Morgan County, MO, Osage County, MO, Pettis County, MO, Phelps County, MO, Pike County, MO, Polk County, MO, Pulaski County, MO, Ralls County, MO, Randolph County, MO, Saint Charles County, MO, Saint Francois County, MO, Saint Louis County, MO, Sainte Genevieve County, MO, Saline County, MO, Shelby County, MO, St. Clair County, MO, Warren County, MO, Washington County, MO, Webster County, MO
The radar
The St Louis radar (KLSX), 149 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:30 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.
Warnings issued inside it
6 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 27, 6:53 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | EAX | Linn | 37 min |
| Apr 27, 7:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EAX | Adair, Sullivan | 49 min |
| Apr 27, 8:00 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LSX | Callaway | 45 min |
| Apr 27, 8:17 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LSX | Montgomery, Warren | 43 min |
| Apr 27, 8:38 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Hancock | 52 min |
| Apr 27, 10:19 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILX | Fulton, Peoria | 41 min |
The nearest sounding before it
Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 278 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 456 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 40 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 458 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 535 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 2.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WWUS20 KWNS 272312 SEL9 SPC WW 272306 ILZ000-MOZ000-280500- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 159 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 606 PM CDT SAT APR 27 2002 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN ILLINOIS CENTRAL AND EASTERN MISSOURI EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING FROM 630 PM UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT. ...THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION... DAMAGING TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER... THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 100 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF KNOB NOSTER MISSOURI TO 40 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF SAINT LOUIS MISSOURI. REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 157. WATCH NUMBER 157 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 630 PM CDT. CONTINUE...WW 158... DISCUSSION...ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE SLOWLY INTENSIFYING OVER PARTS OF WESTERN MO ALONG/AHEAD OF SURFACE DRYLINE. EXTREMELY STRONG SHEAR PROFILES...RAPID AIRMASS DESTABILIZATION...AND STRONG SURFACE PRESSURE FALLS SUGGEST THE POTENTIAL FOR THESE STORMS TO BECOME TORNADIC SUPERCELLS IN THE NEXT 1-3 HOURS. SIGNIFICANT TORNAODES APPEAR POSSIBLE IN THIS REGION. VERY STRONG WINDS ALOFT AND DRY MID LEVEL AIRMASS ALSO SUGGEST POTENTIAL FOR DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24045. ...HART 375,0900 370,0934 395,0934 404,0900
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 27, 3:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bates, Benton, Buchanan, Caldwell, Carroll, Cass and 12 more | 5 hr |
| Apr 27, 3:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adair, Andrew, Atchison, Daviess, DeKalb, Gentry and 9 more | 5 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Missouri, 2002Tornado Watches in Illinois, 2002Every tornado watch 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.