Damaging Wind in Missouri, April 20, 2002

Name: Damaging Wind in Missouri, April 20, 2002
Start: 2002-04-20T17:35
End: 2002-04-20T17:35
Location: Missouri

April 20, 2002 · NWS SGF · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Trees were blown down near St. Elizabeth.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS SGF wrote it up.

Trees were blown down near St. Elizabeth.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Springfield, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 20, 1:45 PM CST, 3 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 20, 1:45 PM CST, 3 hours 50 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
245 PM CDT SAT APR 20 2002

LATEST VISIBLE SATELLITE AND SURFACE OBSERVATIONS SHOW STATIONARY
FRONT DRAPED ALONG THE I-44 CORRIDOR...BEGINNING TO SLOWLY RETREAT
NORTH AS UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM AND SURFACE CYCLOGENESIS TAKE SHAPE
ACROSS THE ROCKIES. TO THE SOUTH...A FEW BREAKS IN THE CLOUDS HAVE
HELPED TEMPERATURES SHOOT UP INTO THE 70S. WINDS HERE HAVE SHIFTED
INTO THE SE AGAIN AS WELL...WITH E-W LINE OF CONVECTION BISECTING
THE AREA HELPING TO DRAG SURFACE BOUNDARY BACK NORTH.

THANKFULLY...RAINFALL WITH MORNING COMPLEX HAS BEEN FAIRLY TOLERABLE
(GENERALLY AROUND A HALF INCH). DENSE FOG CONTINUES TO PLAGUE AREAS
THAT RECEIVED EXCESSIVE RAINFALL YESTERDAY ACROSS CENTRAL
MISSOURI...BUT THINK THAT APPROACHING PRECIP AND RETREATING BOUNDARY
SHOULD HELP MIX OUT THE BOUNDARY LAYER ENOUGH TO IMPROVE
VISIBILITIES.

ALSO MONITORING STORMS ACROSS SE KANSAS WHICH HAVE SHOWN A TENDENCY
TO STRENGTHEN AND PROPAGATE SE TOWARD THE WARM SECTOR DURING THE
LAST HOUR. IF DEEP CONVECTION CAN BECOME ROOTED IN THE BOUNDARY
LAYER...THEN VERY LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE LIKELY THIS
AFTERNOON/EVENING ACROSS THE AREA. WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR RADAR
TRENDS. LOOKS LIKE SPC SEES SIMILAR TRENDS RE: SWOMCD.

NEXT PROBLEM IS THE FLOOD WATCH THAT REMAINS IN EFFECT THROUGH
TONIGHT AND ATTENDANT SEVERE WEATHER THREAT. WITH SURFACE FRONT
LIFTING BACK TO THE NORTH...EXPECT FOCUS FOR HEAVY RAIN TO BE ALONG
AND NORTH OF THIS BOUNDARY.  TRACK OF SURFACE LOW TONIGHT PLACES
MOST OF THE CWA IN THE WARM SECTOR...WITH HEAVY RAINFALL CONDITIONAL
ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE COMPLEX ACROSS TX/OK LATER TODAY. THIS
SYSTEM WOULD AFFECT MAINLY WRN MO/SE KS WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
WINDS CERTAINLY POSSIBLE GIVEN VERY STRONG SHEAR PROFILE PROGGED TO
DEVELOP LATER TONIGHT. WITH BACKED LOW LEVEL FLOW INVOF WARM
FRONT...SHEAR VALUES INCREASE TREMENDOUSLY TONIGHT...SO ISOLATED
TORNADOES CANNOT BE RULED OUT. WHILE FLASH FLOOD GUIDANCE SUGGESTS
THAT COUNTIES ALONG THE AR/OK/KS BORDERS COULD STAND QUITE A BIT OF
WATER...WILL NOT MAKE ANY CHANGES AT THIS TIME GIVEN UNCERTAINTY OF
TONIGHTS EVENT. TEMPERATURES OVERNIGHT MAY ACTUALLY RISE AS SRLY
FLOW ENHANCES WARM ADVECTION OVER THE AREA.

SURFACE LOW WILL TRACK INTO NORTHERN MISSOURI BY MIDDAY SUNDAY. THE
TRAILING FRONT WILL SWEEP ACROSS THE AREA DURING THE AFTERNOON.  ETA
SUGGESTS THAT AIRMASS WILL RECOVER AHEAD THE FRONT MAINLY EAST OF
SPRINGFIELD...WITH THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED TO REDEVELOP BY NOONTIME.
UNSEASONABLY STRONG SHEAR PROFILES SUGGEST MAINLY A DAMAGING WIND
THREAT...WITH TORNADIC THREAT A DEFINITELY POSSIBILITY INVOF SURFACE
LOW.

ISC GRIDS HAVE BEEN SENT.

.SGF...
MO...FLOOD WATCH FOR TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT FOR ZONES
MOZ055>058...MOZ066>071...MOZ077>083...MOZ088>098...MOZ101>106.

KS...FLOOD WATCH FOR TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT FOR ZONES
KSZ073...KSZ097...KSZ101.

BOOKBINDER

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 20, 3:07 PM CST, 2 hours 28 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
407 PM CDT SAT APR 20 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0325 PM    3 N LAMAR                 MO   .75 INCH HAIL
04/20/02   BARTON                         REPORTED BY VOLUNTEER
                                          WEATHER OBSERVER.

Local storm report, Apr 20, 3:30 PM CST, 2 hours 5 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
430 PM CDT SAT APR 20 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0425 PM    PLEASANT HOPE             MO   .75 INCH HAIL
04/20/02   POLK                           REPORTED BY PUBLIC.

Local storm report, Apr 20, 3:58 PM CST, 1 hour 37 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
458 PM CDT SAT APR 20 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0420 PM    PLEASANT HOPE             MO   .88 INCH HAIL
04/20/02   POLK                           REPORTED BY HAM RADIO
                                          OPERATOR.

Local storm report, Apr 20, 4:09 PM CST, 1 hour 26 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
509 PM CDT SAT APR 20 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0445 PM    FORKNERS HILL             MO   1.75 INCH HAIL
04/20/02   WEBSTER                        REPORTED BY PUBLIC.

Local storm report, Apr 20, 5:07 PM CST, 28 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
607 PM CDT SAT APR 20 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0545 PM    ROBY                      MO   .75 INCH HAIL
04/20/02   TEXAS                          REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

Local storm report, Apr 20, 5:20 PM CST, 15 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
620 PM CDT SAT APR 20 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0615 PM    3 S CAMDENTON             MO   1.75 INCH HAIL
04/20/02   CAMDEN                         REPORTED BY PUBLIC.

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 146 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:32 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Miller

When: April 20, 5:35 PM CST
Where: Miller County, St Elizabeth
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.267, -92.267

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Missouri in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Missouri, April 2002

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5293702.