Alert archive / Missouri / Tornado Watches in 2026

Tornado Watch 92

April 3, 20264 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 3, 2026, 2:20 PM CDT for 4 states. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 3, 2026, 2:20 PM CDT (19:20 UTC)
Expired
Apr 3, 2026, 8:04 PM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
55 kt
All 50 counties

Appanoose County, IA, Clarke County, IA, Davis County, IA, Decatur County, IA, Des Moines County, IA, Henry County, IA, Jefferson County, IA, Lee County, IA, Lucas County, IA, Monroe County, IA, Ringgold County, IA, Taylor County, IA, Union County, IA, Van Buren County, IA, Wapello County, IA, Wayne County, IA, Adams County, IL, Brown County, IL, Hancock County, IL, Henderson County, IL, McDonough County, IL, Warren County, IL, Doniphan County, KS, Adair County, MO, Andrew County, MO, Atchison County, MO, Buchanan County, MO, Caldwell County, MO, Clark County, MO, Clinton County, MO, Daviess County, MO, DeKalb County, MO, Gentry County, MO, Grundy County, MO, Harrison County, MO, Holt County, MO, Knox County, MO, Lewis County, MO, Linn County, MO, Livingston County, MO, Macon County, MO, Marion County, MO, Mercer County, MO, Nodaway County, MO, Putnam County, MO, Schuyler County, MO, Scotland County, MO, Shelby County, MO, Sullivan County, MO, Worth County, MO

The radar

The Des Moines radar (KDMX), 180 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:23 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
50%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
60%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
10%
Ten or more severe hail reports
60%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
60%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
95%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 3, 2:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXAtchison, Holt49 min
Apr 3, 3:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXAtchison, Nodaway32 min
Apr 3, 3:47 PM CDTTornado WarningEAXAtchison, Nodaway28 min
Apr 3, 4:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXNodaway35 min
Apr 3, 4:22 PM CDTTornado WarningEAXNodaway11 min
Apr 3, 4:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDMXTaylor44 min
Apr 3, 5:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXBrown25 min
Apr 3, 6:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXAtchison, Doniphan, Leavenworth41 min

Discussions around it

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

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 313 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, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2026-04-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2026-04-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 172 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1023 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
172 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
229 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 3, 1:26 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Brown, Cass, DeWitt, Fulton, Hancock and 19 more2 hr
Apr 3, 4:59 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCass, Champaign, DeWitt, Douglas, Ford, Fulton and 21 more2 hr
Apr 3, 5:18 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCCass, Ford, Fulton, Iroquois, Knox, Livingston and 9 more4 hr
Apr 3, 2:15 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCButler, Chautauqua, Cowley, Elk, Greenwood, Labette and 5 more2 hr
Apr 3, 2:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAllen, Anderson, Atchison, Bourbon, Brown, Butler and 28 more7 hr
Apr 3, 6:05 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Anderson, Bourbon, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Coffey and 10 more115 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Missouri, 2026Tornado Watches in Iowa, 2026Tornado Watches in Illinois, 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.