1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
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 Dec 15, 3:34 PM CST, 3 hours 41 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO 334 PM CST MON DEC 15 2003 .DISCUSSION... MAIN FORECAST CONCERNS WILL DEAL WITH A FRONTAL SYSTEM PUSHING THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA TONIGHT. THIS AFTERNOON...A STRONG SHORTWAVE WAS PUSHING INTO KANSAS. ITS ASSOCIATED SURFACE LOW WAS FOUND OVER SOUTHWEST IOWA...AND THE SURFACE COLD FRONT ROUGHLY STRETCHED FROM EXTREME SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA...TO SOUTH-CENTRAL KANSAS. GUSTY SOUTH WINDS AHEAD OF THE SYSTEM ALLOWED TEMPERATURES TO SKYROCKET ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA THIS AFTERNOON...AS READINGS RANGED FROM 63 AT JOPLIN...AND 58 AT SPRINGFIELD...TO 49 AT VICHY. WHILE THERE LOOKS TO BE DECENT LIFT ASSOCIATED WITH THE FRONT AND SHORTWAVE...MOISTURE WILL BE QUITE SHALLOW. MESOETA RH CROSS SECTIONS SHOW GENERALLY DRY AIR ABOVE 750 MB. 850 MB MOISTURE TRANSPORT VECTORS SHOW THE BEST LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE CONVERGENCE ACROSS SOUTH-CENTRAL INTO EASTERN MISSOURI. BOTH THE ETA AND GFS QPF FIELDS PAINT 1 TO 2 TENTHS (LIQUID) ACROSS MY FAR EASTERN COUNTIES. PREVIOUS FORECAST SHOWED SIMILAR THINKING...AND I ONLY MADE MINOR CHANGES TO THE POP GRIDS FOR TONIGHT. FORECAST GRIDS WILL TREND 50 POPS EAST TO AROUND 30 ACROSS SOUTHEAST KANSAS AND FAR WESTERN MISSOURI. PRECIPITATION TYPE WILL ALSO BE A CONCERN. THE FRONT WILL REACH SOUTHEAST KANSAS/FAR WESTERN MISSOURI LATE THIS EVENING. LOOKS LIKE TEMPERATURES WILL BE ABOVE FREEZING BEFORE MIDNIGHT ACROSS THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA...SO ANY PRECIPITATION THAT FALLS THIS EVENING WILL BE RAIN. LOOKING AT MESOETA SURFACE TEMPERATURES...THE FREEZING LINE STRETCHES FROM OSAGE BEACH TO NEAR BRANSON BY 08Z...AND FROM SALEM TO GAINESVILLE BY 12Z. COMPARING THE MESOETA WITH CURRENT OBSERVATIONS INDICATES THE MODEL MAY BE SEVERAL DEGREES TOO COOL. DECIDED TO KEEP MENTION OF FREEZING DRIZZLE/FLURRIES AFTER MIDNIGHT...AS THE WESTERN TWO-THIRDS OF THE FORECAST AREA SHOULD DROP BELOW FREEZING SOMETIME BEFORE DAWN...EVEN IF COOLING TRENDS ARE A BIT SLOWER THAN THE ETA. WITH THE SHALLOW MOISTURE IN PLACE...NOT MUCH SEEDER-FEEDER WILL TAKE PLACE. SO THERE WILL PROBABLY BE MORE DRIZZLE/FREEZING DRIZZLE INSTEAD OF FLURRIES OVERNIGHT. IM EXPECTING QPF AMOUNTS TO BE VERY LIGHT...SO ANY WINTERY ACCUMULATIONS WILL BE MINIMAL. WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO BE GUSTY TONIGHT AND INTO TUESDAY MORNING. 850 MB PROFILER DATA IS SHOWING 50 TO 60 KT FLOW AHEAD OF THE SYSTEM...AND 35 TO 45 KTS ACROSS KANSAS AND NEBRASKA. WINDS MAY DECREASE A BIT JUST ALONG THE FRONT. HOWEVER...BUFKIT SOUNDINGS INDICATE 25 TO 30 KTS TRANSPORTED TO THE SURFACE THROUGH MIDDAY TUESDAY. LOW CLOUDS WILL HOLD STEADY OVER THE REGION FOR MUCH OF TUESDAY...AS MORE WEAK UPPER ENERGY PUSHES OVERHEAD AND MODEL LOW-LEVEL FIELDS REMAIN NEARLY SATURATED. IN ADDITION...KEPT LOW MORNING POPS FOR FZDZ/FLURRIES ACROSS OUR EASTERN AREAS. THE CLOUD COVER ALONG WITH COLD AIR ADVECTION WILL KEEP TEMPERATURES FROM RISING MUCH. IN GENERAL I TRENDED TOWARD THE COOLER MET GUIDANCE...WITH HIGHS EXPECTED TO RANGE IN THE MIDDLE AND UPPER 30S. AS FOR THE EXTENDED...THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK LOOKS DRY. A COUPLE CLIPPER TYPE SYSTEMS PASS TO THE NORTHEAST OF THE AREA. THE EFFECTS OF THESE SYSTEMS WILL BE TO COOL TEMPERATURES A FEW DEGREES. DIDNT CHANGE MUCH TO THE GRIDS EXCEPT FOR LOWERING TEMPERATURES IN A FEW PLACES...AS THE GFS HAS TRENDED COOLER AND TO BETTER BLEND WITH SURROUNDING OFFICES. SAW && .AVIATION... TIGHT SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT IN RESPONSE TO APPROACHING SURFACE LOW PRESSURE OVER KANSAS WILL CONTINUE THE WINDY CONDITIONS THROUGH THIS EVENING. SUSTAINED SOUTHERLY WINDS OF 20 TO 30 KTS WILL BE COMMON WITH HIGHER GUSTS AROUND 35 KTS POSSIBLE. WINDS INCREASE WITH HEIGHT TO NEAR 50 KTS AT 3000 FEET. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL GRADUALLY INCREASE IN ADVANCE OF THE SURFACE LOW AND ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT. STRATUS WITH MVFR CEILINGS NEAR 2000 FEET WILL AFFECT MAINLY SOUTH CENTRAL MISSOURI EAST OF SPRINGFIELD THIS AFTERNOON THEN SPREAD ACROSS THE AREA THIS EVENING. WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE NORTHWEST AT THE JOPLIN TERMINAL AROUND 9 PM AND AT SPRINGFIELD AROUND MIDNIGHT AS A STRONG COLD FRONT PUSHES EAST ACROSS THE REGION. WIND SPEEDS WILL REMAIN IN THE 20 TO 30 KT RANGE. A FEW SHOWERS WILL DEVELOP THIS EVENING AHEAD OF THE FRONT WITH LIGHT FREEZING DRIZZLE OR FLURRIES POSSIBLE AS COLD AIR RUSHES INTO THE AREA BEHIND THE FRONT. FOSTER .SGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MO...NONE. KS...NONE. WFO SGF
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO 700 PM CST MON DEC 15 2003 KSZ073-097-101-MOZ055>058-066>071-077>083-088>098-101>106-161200- BARRY-BARTON-BENTON-BOURBON-CAMDEN-CEDAR-CHEROKEE-CHRISTIAN-CRAWFORD- DADE-DALLAS-DENT-DOUGLAS-GREENE-HICKORY-HOWELL-JASPER-LACLEDE- LAWRENCE-MARIES-MCDONALD-MILLER-MORGAN-NEWTON-OREGON-OZARK-PHELPS- POLK-PULASKI-SHANNON-ST. CLAIR-STONE-TANEY-TEXAS-VERNON-WEBSTER- WRIGHT- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...AVA...BOLIVAR...BRANSON...CAMDENTON... FORT LEONARD WOOD...FORT SCOTT...HOUSTON...JOPLIN...LEBANON... MONETT...MOUNT VERNON...NEOSHO...NEVADA...OSAGE BEACH...OZARK... PITTSBURG...ROLLA...SPRINGFIELD...STOCKTON AND WEST PLAINS. 700 PM CST MON DEC 15 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE MISSOURI OZARKS AND EXTREME SOUTHEAST KANSAS. .DAY ONE...OVERNIGHT. WEATHER HAZARDS EXPECTED: SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WIND GUSTS RANGING BETWEEN 30 AND 35 MPH AREAS OF FREEZING DRIZZLE AND FLURRIES AREAS AFFECTED AND TIMING: SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER SOUTHERN MISSOURI...MAINLY SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 44 OVERNIGHT. SOUTHERLY WINDS IN ADVANCE OF AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT WILL GUST TO AROUND 30 MPH AT TIMES THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS THE OUTLOOK AREA. WINDS MAY DECREASE FOR A SHORT TIME AS THE FRONT NEARS EARLY THIS EVENING...THEN SHIFT TO THE WEST WITH GUSTS APPROACHING 35 MPH DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. AREAS OF FREEZING DRIZZLE AND FLURRIES ARE POSSIBLE MAINLY AFTER MIDNIGHT. DISCUSSION: SOME INSTABILITY DEVELOPED AHEAD OF A STRONG COLD FRONT MOVING INTO SOUTHEAST KANSAS THIS EVENING. ENOUGH INSTABILITY IN THE LOW LEVELS WILL CAUSED SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE SURFACE COLD FRONT. IT WILL BE CONCENTRATED MAINLY SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 44 TONIGHT. THE MAIN WEATHER HAZARD WILL BE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. GUSTY WINDS WILL BE COMMON ACROSS THE OUTLOOK AREA THIS AFTERNOON AS THE PRESSURE GRADIENT STRENGTHENS IN ADVANCE OF AN APPROACHING SURFACE LOW AND COLD FRONT. THE COLD FRONT WILL PUSH ACROSS THE OZARKS REGION DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. WINDS BEHIND THIS FRONT WILL SHIFT AROUND TO THE WEST WITH GUSTS RANGING FROM 30 TO 35 MILES PER HOUR. THESE WINDS WILL COMBINE WITH TEMPERATURES FALLING NEAR THE FREEZING MARK...TO PRODUCE WIND CHILL VALUES BETWEEN 10 AND 15 DEGREES MAINLY NORTHWEST OF A BRANSON TO ROLLA LINE. AS COLD AIR FILTERS IN BEHIND THE FRONT...FREEZING DRIZZLE AND FLURRIES WILL BE POSSIBLE. WHILE NO ACCUMULATIONS ARE EXPECTED...ANY PERIOD OF FREEZING DRIZZLE COULD POTENTIALLY PRODUCE SLICK SPOTS ON AREA ROADS LATE TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. A FEW FLURRIES OR AREAS OF LIGHT FREEZING DRIZZLE MAY LINGER AFTER THE PASSAGE OF THE COLD FRONT THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS TUESDAY. MORNING COMMUTERS SHOULD USE CAUTION...AS A FEW SLICK SPOTS MAY BE PRESENT ON AREA ROADS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THROUGH TONIGHT. JLT/SAW
The Springfield radar (KSGF), 21 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:13 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Law enforcement officials observed several downed trees from severe thunderstorm wind gusts.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Missouri in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Missouri, December 2003
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: 5335802.