Hail in Missouri, April 4, 2003

Name: Hail in Missouri, April 4, 2003
Start: 2003-04-04T16:39
End: 2003-04-04T20:26
Location: Missouri

April 4, 2003 · NWS PAH · 11 events in 6 counties and zones

S. Highway 60.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. 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: 11

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 PAH wrote it up.

Severe thunderstorms produced large hail at numerous locations across southeast Missouri, mainly along and south of U.S. Highway 60. The largest and most damaging hailstorms were from Poplar Bluff to Dexter. Hail ranging from dime to golf-ball size covered the ground in Poplar Bluff, especially the southern end of the city. Quarter to golf-ball size hail occurred in and near Dexter. Vehicles were dented and windshields were cracked. Wind gusts to 50 MPH were measured in the Dexter area. An awning was torn off a home on State Route 25. The most intense thunderstorm of the night displayed supercellular characteristics as it passed near Dexter. A funnel cloud was reported about 10 miles southeast of Dexter.

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 Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 4, 4:15 PM CST, 24 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 4, 4:15 PM CST, 24 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
415 PM CST FRI APR 4 2003

RUNNING WAY BEHIND TODAY...SO WILL BE BRIEF.  MAIN PROBLEM IS THE
POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING.

MOST OF THE CWA HAS BEEN COVERED IN CLOUDS ALL DAY...BUT SOME
CLEARING IS FINALLY WORKING INTO FAR WESTERN ZONES.  THUNDERSTORMS
HAVE ALREADY ERUPTED FROM SOUTH CENTRAL MISSOURI NORTHEAST INTO WEST
CENTRAL ILLINOIS.  THIS AREA HAS BEEN CLEAR FOR MUCH OF THE
AFTERNOON...ALLOWING FOR MORE DESTABILIZATION.  IT IS UNCERTAIN IF
THIS AREA OF MORE UNSTABLE AIR WILL WORK EASTWARD AHEAD OF THE COLD
FRONT...BUT WILL COUNT ON THE STORMS MAINTAINING STRENGTH AS THEY
MOVE EASTWARD INTO THE AREA.  CELLULAR STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BE
MOST NUMEROUS IN THE NORTHWEST PORTION OF THE FORECAST AREA...WITH
MORE SCATTERED CONVECTION FURTHER SOUTH.  THE CONVECTION IS THEN
EXPECTED TO LINE OUT AS OUTFLOWS BEGIN TO ORGANIZE...AND BOW ECHOES
AND WIND DAMAGE BECOME THE MAIN THREAT ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF OF
THE AREA LATER THIS EVENING.  THE SEVERE THREAT SHOULD BE OVER IN
EASTERN SECTIONS BY MIDNIGHT...AND THE RAINFALL SHOULD BE DONE BY
EARLY MORNING.

SKIES SHOULD CLEAR OUT FAIRLY QUICKLY SATURDAY...AS A NICE SURFACE
HIGH BRIEFLY BUILDS INTO THE AREA.  WARM ADVECTION WILL BRING CLOUDS
BACK ACROSS THE AREA QUICKLY ON SATURDAY NIGHT...WITH SOME RAIN
POSSIBLE IN SOUTHEAST MISSOURI LATE.  INSTABILITY WILL INCREASE
ACROSS THE AREA ON SUNDAY...AS LOW LEVEL MOISTURE INCREASES AND A
COLD FRONT AND SURFACE LOW APPROACH.  WILL MENTION THUNDERSTORMS
LIKELY SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT MOST AREAS.  THERE MAY BE A BREAK
BEFORE THE FRONTAL PRECIPITATION MOVES IN...BUT LIKELIES LOOK OK.
AFTER A LINGERING CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION EARLY MONDAY...THE REST OF
THE FORECAST WILL BE DRY.

IN THE EXTENDED WILL NOT BITE ON THE 00Z GFS/S CUT OFF LOW...WHICH
IS SUPPORTED BY THE 12Z GFS RUN.

.PAH...NONE.

DRS

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 4, 12:02 PM CST, 4 hours 37 minutes before

ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087-100-
107>112-114-051100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
1202 PM CST FRI APR 4 2003

...A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXISTS THROUGH EARLY
TONIGHT...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...SOUTHERN
ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA AND WESTERN KENTUCKY.

.DAY ONE...UNTIL SUNRISE

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS ANTICIPATED FOR THE AFOREMENTIONED TIME
FRAME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE AGAIN SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT AS THE
FRONT MOVES BACK NORTH AS A WARM FRONT. AT THE CURRENT TIME...THE
RISK OF SEVERE STORMS APPEARS TO BE SOUTH OF MISSOURI AND KENTUCKY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

HOOPER

The radar

The Paducah radar (KPAH), 93 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:38 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

10 hail, 1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Carter

When: April 4, 4:39 PM CST to 4:45 PM CST
Where: Carter County, Fremont
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 36.717, -89.717

Hail, Carter

When: April 4, 5:55 PM CST
Where: Carter County, 7 mi E of Van Buren
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 36.941, -90.962 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hail, Ripley

When: April 4, 7:00 PM CST
Where: Ripley County, Doniphan
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 36.700, -90.467

Hail, Butler

When: April 4, 7:06 PM CST to 7:14 PM CST
Where: Butler County, 5 mi SW of Poplar Bluff
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 36.950, -91.167

Hail, Butler

When: April 4, 7:21 PM CST to 7:29 PM CST
Where: Butler County, Poplar Bluff
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.000, -90.883

Hail, Stoddard

When: April 4, 7:30 PM CST
Where: Stoddard County, 2 mi W of Dexter
Measured: 1.25 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 36.750, -90.400

Hail, Scott

When: April 4, 7:57 PM CST
Where: Scott County, 1 mi NW of Sikeston
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 36.800, -89.983

Hail, Stoddard

When: April 4, 7:58 PM CST
Where: Stoddard County, Dexter
Measured: 1.75 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.617, -90.817

Funnel Cloud, Stoddard

When: April 4, 7:59 PM CST
Where: Stoddard County, 10 mi SE of Dexter
Reported by: GENERAL PUBLIC
Coordinates: 36.850, -89.683

Hail, New Madrid

When: April 4, 8:17 PM CST
Where: New Madrid County, Morehouse
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.800, -89.950

Hail, Stoddard

When: April 4, 8:26 PM CST
Where: Stoddard County, Charter Oak
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 36.883, -89.583

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Funnel Cloud: A rotating column of cloud extending from a thunderstorm that did not reach the ground.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Missouri in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Missouri, April 2003

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: 5348464, 5348465, 5348468, 5348466, 5348467, 5348469, 5348471, 5348470, 5349538, 5348472, 5349537.