Alert archive / Missouri / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 1, NWS St. Louis, MO

April 29, 2003Iron County, Madison County, Saint Francois County, Missouri

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this flash flood warning at Apr 29, 2003, 8:26 PM CDT for Iron County, Madison County, Saint Francois County, Missouri. It was in force for 4 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Apr 29, 2003, 8:26 PM CDT (01:26 UTC)
Expired: Apr 30, 2003, 12:30 AM CDT
In force: 4 hr
Issued by: NWS St. Louis, MO
Area: Whole counties

Counties Iron County, MO, Madison County, MO, Saint Francois County, MO

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 123 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:28 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 00:00Z, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 302 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: 1000 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1720 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 16 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 67 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS53 KLSX 300131
FFWLSX
MOC093-123-187-300530-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
826 PM CDT TUE APR 29 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  NORTHEASTERN IRON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
  NORTHERN MADISON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
  SOUTHERN ST. FRANCOIS COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST MISSOURI

* UNTIL 1230 AM CDT

* A SERIES OF THUNDERSTORMS HAVE MOVED ACROSS NORTHEAST 
IRON...NORTHERN MADISON...AND SOUTHERN ST. FRANCOIS COUNTIES THIS 
EVENING.  RADAR INDICATES THAT OVER 3 INCHES OF RAIN HAVE FALLEN
ACROSS THIS AREA OVER THE PAST FEW HOURS...AND AN ADDITIONAL CLUSTER 
OF STORMS WILL PRODUCE MORE HEAVY RAIN THROUGH 930 PM.

* FLASH FLOODING CAN BE EXPECTED ACROSS THE AREA...AND WILL BE   
AFFECTING THE IRONTON...ROSELLE...KNOB LICK... AND IRON MOUNTAIN 
AREAS.

MOST DEATHS IN FLASH FLOODING OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES DO NOT ATTEMPT TO
CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW WATER CROSSINGS IF WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. DO NOT DRIVE AROUND BARRICADES IF YOUR VEHICLE 
STALLS...ABANDON IT IMMEDIATELY AND SEEK HIGHER GROUND.  MOTORISTS 
SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE THROUGH LOW WATER CROSSINGS...THEY CAN 
BE DEATH TRAPS DURING TIMES OF HEAVY RAIN.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODING. ACT QUICKLY IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED. MOVE
TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT
TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

THOSE CAMPING NEAR SMALL STREAMS SHOULD MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND AT
ONCE. WATER LEVELS MAY RISE RAPIDLY WITH LITTLE OR NO WARNING...EVEN
IF THE HEAVY RAINS ARE WELL UPSTREAM OF YOUR CAMPSITE.

$$

TRUETT

1 follow-up statement

000 
WGUS73 KLSX 300537
FFSLSX
MOC093-123-187-300600-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
1235 AM CDT WED APR 30 2003

...FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR NORTHERN MADISON...NORTHEAST IRON AND
SOUTHERN ST. FRANCOIS COUNTIES HAS EXPIRED...

SEVERAL HOURS HAVE PASSED SINCE THE RAIN CAME TO AN END IN 
IRON...MADISON...AND ST. FRANCOIS COUNTIES.  THIS HAS GIVEN CREEKS 
AND SMALL STREAMS TIME TO ABSORB THE HEAVY RAINS OF EARLIER THIS 
EVENING...ENDING THE FLASH FLOOD THREAT.

MOTORISTS ARE URGED TO CONTINUE TO USE CAUTION WHEN APPROACHING LOW 
WATER CROSSINGS.

$$

TRUETT

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 29, 8:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Iron, Madison, Saint Francois	47 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Missouri, 2003 Every flash flood warning in 2003

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.