Alert archive / Missouri / Tornado Watches in 2026

Tornado Watch 87

April 1, 20265 counties in Kansas; 28 counties in Missouri

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 1, 2026, 6:01 PM CDT for 5 counties in Kansas; 28 counties in Missouri. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 1, 2026, 6:01 PM CDT (23:01 UTC)
Expired
Apr 2, 2026, 1:00 AM CDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 33 counties

Bourbon County, KS, Cherokee County, KS, Crawford County, KS, Linn County, KS, Miami County, KS, Barton County, MO, Bates County, MO, Benton County, MO, Camden County, MO, Cass County, MO, Cedar County, MO, Dade County, MO, Dallas County, MO, Dent County, MO, Greene County, MO, Henry County, MO, Hickory County, MO, Jasper County, MO, Johnson County, MO, Laclede County, MO, Lawrence County, MO, Maries County, MO, Miller County, MO, Morgan County, MO, Pettis County, MO, Phelps County, MO, Polk County, MO, Pulaski County, MO, St. Clair County, MO, Texas County, MO, Vernon County, MO, Webster County, MO, Wright County, MO

The radar

The Springfield radar (KSGF), 88 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:04 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 SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes
40%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
40%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
10%
Ten or more severe hail reports
40%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
40%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

7 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 1, 6:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGFCedar, St. Clair31 min
Apr 1, 9:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXHenry41 min
Apr 1, 9:11 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEAXLinn6 hr
Apr 1, 9:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSGFBenton29 min
Apr 1, 10:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXHenry49 min
Apr 1, 11:12 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEAXCooper, Henry, Johnson, Lafayette, Pettis, Saline6 hr
Apr 1, 11:33 PM CDTFlash Flood Warning Considerable damage threatEAXBates, Cass, Henry, Johnson3 hr

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 138 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 2026-04-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 137 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 2026-04-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 305 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
137 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-146 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1228 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
305 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
344 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 1, 3:39 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarber, Harper, Kingman, Sumner96 min
Apr 1, 3:52 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Anderson, Bourbon, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Crawford and 7 more113 min
Apr 1, 4:41 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBarber, Chautauqua, Comanche, Cowley, Harper, Labette and 4 more7 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Missouri, 2026Tornado Watches in Kansas, 2026Every tornado watch in 2026

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.