Name: Hail in Missouri, December 17, 2002
Start: 2002-12-17T21:25
End: 2002-12-17T21:30
Location: Missouri

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: 2

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 LSX wrote it up.

The Sheriff's Department reported hail up to nickel size just west of Jefferson City.

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 St. Louis, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 17, 12:30 PM CST, 8 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 17, 12:30 PM CST, 8 hours 55 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
1230 PM CST TUE DEC 17 2002

WRM FNT LIES ACRS THE ERN OZARKS ATTM WITH FNT JUST N OF FAM-VIH
LN.  N OF FNT DEWPT CONTS TO PUSH THE TEMP UPWRD WITH FOG STILL
PERSISTING ACRS THE STL AREA.  FNT WILL CONT TO LIFT NWD TNGT WITH
CHALLENGING FCST AHD.  TIGHT GRAD FCST BY ETA TNGT WITH BNDRY LYR
WIND FCST 30-35 KTS ACRS THE ENTIRE AREA.

STRNG H3 JET OVR SRN CA THIS MRNG FCST TO MOVE INTO CNTRL OK BY 12Z
WED WITH THE NOSE UP TO STL AREA BY WED EVE AT 120 KTS.  AT 12Z WED,
ETA IS FCSTG BEST LI OVR NE CRNR OF MO UNDR UPR DVRGC BULLSEYE.  IN
RESPONSE MODEL FCSTS 850 JET OF 50-60 KTS ACRS THE ENTIRE CWA WITH
SGNFNT MSTR CNVGC INTO CNTRL/NE MO BY MIDN.  ETA TENDS TO OVRFCST
THE WIND, AND AT MIDN THE NGM AND GFS ARE RUNNING 10-20 KTS LWR AT
850.

IN THE EXTND PD, THE GFS AND UKMET FM THE 00Z RUN ARE ALMST
IDENTICAL AT H5 FOR FRI EVE WITH DEEP TROF FCST FM THE UPR MIDWEST
INTO THE SRN PLNS WITH RDG OVR THE GRT BASIN. THE ECMWF FM 16/12Z
FOR FRIS MRNG FCST VERY SMLR WITH 500 FEATURES.  MIDN UPDATE OF THE
GFS FCSTS DEEPR TROF OVR OK BY SAT EVE THAN 00Z RUN.

.STL...NONE

Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 17, 4:00 PM CST, 5 hours 25 minutes before

ILZ058>060-064-065-069-070-074-079-095>102-MOZ018-019-026-027-034>036
-041-042-047>052-059>065-072>075-084-085-099-182200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
400 PM CST TUE DEC 17 2002

THIS OUTLOOK COVERS CENTRAL AND EASTERN MISSOURI AND WEST CENTRAL
AND SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT
THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT OVER THE
ENTIRE AREA.  A FEW THUNDERSTORMS MAY BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE
HAIL OR DAMAGING WINDS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY
THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ON WEDNESDAY AND
WEDNESDAY NIGHT OVER THE ENTIRE REGION.  A FEW THUNDERSTORMS MAY BE
CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL OR DAMAGING WINDS.

WARM AND UNSTABLE AIR IS MOVING INTO THE AREA FROM THE SOUTH.  THIS
WARM AIR NEAR THE SURFACE COMBINED WITH STRONG UPPER LEVEL WINDS AND
COLD TEMPERATURES ALOFT WILL PROVIDE AN EVNIRONMENT CAPABLE OF
PRODUCING SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTERS SHOULD STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION ABOUT POTENTIAL SEVERE WEATHER TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY
NIGHT.

CARNEY

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 132 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:25 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Cole

When: December 17, 9:25 PM CST
Where: Cole County, 1 mi W of Jefferson City
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.583, -92.200

Hail, Cole

When: December 17, 9:30 PM CST
Where: Cole County, 2 mi W of Jefferson City
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 38.583, -92.217

T

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Missouri in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Missouri, December 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: 5324996, 5324995.