Damaging Wind in Missouri, May 6, 2003

Name: Damaging Wind in Missouri, May 6, 2003
Start: 2003-05-06T18:47
End: 2003-05-06T18:55
Location: Missouri

May 6, 2003 · NWS LSX · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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 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 May 6, 12:00 PM CST, 6 hours 47 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 6, 12:00 PM CST, 6 hours 47 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
100 PM CDT TUE MAY 6 2003

MOISTURE AT 850 WAS BEGINNING TO ADVECT NEWD ACROSS THE LOWER MS
VALLEY THIS MORNING.  ETA SIMILAR WITH MONS RUN WITH 100 KT H3 JET
ACROSS THE TX PANHANDLE BY MIDNIGHT WITH 2ND JET VICINITY OF LM
PROVIDING JET COUPLING. SIGNIFICANT DIVERGENCE FORECAST ACROSS IL
AND AR.  MSAS AT NOON INDICATED SURFACE MOISTURE CONVERGENCE ACROSS
CENTRAL MO AT NOON WITH MOST UNSTABLE AIR ACROSS THE ERN OZARKS.

HIGH MOISTURE FORECAST BY NGM, ETA AND GFS WITH ALL 3 FORECASTING
KS IN THE MID 30S TO LOW 40S ACROSS PTNS OF THE AREA THIS EVE.
THE GFS IS MORE AGGRESSIVE WITH THE PARAMETER. FLASH FLOOD GUIDANCE
HAS 1.0 TO 1.5 INCHES ACROSS MOST OF THE CWA.  LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN
ARE LIKELY TO EXCEED THESE VALUES AND WILL ISSUE A FLOOD WATCH FOR
ENTIRE CWA FOR TONIGHT.

SERIOUS OF SHORT WAVES WILL AFFECT THE AREA LATER IN THE WEEK.  ETA
FORECASTS H5 80 M HEIGHT FALL CENTER OVER NM THU MORNING WITH 120 M
HFC DIGGING INTO NRN CA.  THE GFS IS VERY SIMILAR.  LEAD SYSTEM IS
FORECAST TO DIG INTO NW MO/SW IA BY THU MIDN BY BOTH ETA AND GFS.
STRONG SHORT WAVE IS FORECAST TO MOVE OUT OF THE CENTRAL ROCKIES SAT
MORNING AND PLOW INTO THE GREAT LAKES REGION BY SUN MORNING.  GFS IS
FORECASTING A 180 M HFC NR MKE BY 12Z SUN.

IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD, THE GFS AND ECMWF BOTH FORECAST STRONG H5
SHORT WAVES ROTATING INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS WITH THE GFS CLOSING
OFF THE LOW OVR THE HIGH PLAINS OF CO.  AS A RESULT, GFS IS SLOWER
WITH SYSTEM THAN ECMWF BY SUN.  THE ECMWF IS VERY SIMILAR IN
FORECASTING A DEEP SURFACE LOW NR LS BY SUN MORNING.  THINGS QUIET
EARLY NEXT WEEK WITH THE GFS SHIFTING THE STRONG SHORT WAVES FURTHER
N.

.STL...FLOOD WATCH FOR THE ENTIRE CWA FOR TONIGHT

Hazardous weather outlook, May 6, 11:15 AM CST, 7 hours 32 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>075-084-085-099-071200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
1215 PM CDT TUE MAY 6 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND EASTERN MISSOURI
AND WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

AN OUTBREAK OF SEVERE WEATHER IS POSSIBLE OVER PARTS OF MISSOURI AND
ILLINOIS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.  THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS SOUTH OF A PARIS TO BOWLING GREEN MISSOURI TO
LITCHFIELD ILLINOIS LINE.  SOME CITIES INCLUDED IN THE MODERATE RISK
AREA ARE COLUMBIA...JEFFERSON CITY...ST LOUIS...FARMINGTON...
BELLEVILLE AND CENTRALIA.  THERE IS ALSO A SLIGHT RISK OF
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THAT COVERS THE REST OF THE AREA OVER WEST
CENTRAL ILLINOIS AND NORTHEAST MISSOURI.

LOW PRESSURE OVER OKLAHOMA WILL MOVE NORTHEAST ALONG A FRONTAL
BOUNDARY OVER SOUTHERN MISSOURI THROUGH TONIGHT.  THUNDERSTORMS ARE
EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG THIS FRONT AND MOVE INTO THE AREA THIS
AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING.  SOME OF THESE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BE
SEVERE GIVEN THE STRONG ATMOSPHERIC WINDS AND VERY UNSTABLE
CONDITIONS OVER THE REGION.  THESE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF
PRODUCING ISOLATED TORNADOES...DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL UP TO
THE SIZE OF BASEBALLS.  HEAVY RAINFALL IS ALSO POSSIBLE WITH THESE
STORMS LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

THE RISK OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE ON
WEDNESDAY...GENERALLY SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 70.  THERE IS A RISK OF
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE ENTIRE AREA ON THURSDAY.  A SERIES OF
STORM SYSTEMS WIL MOVE ALONG A STALLED FRONTAL SYSTEM LOCATED OVER
SOUTHERN MISSOURI AND ILLINOIS.

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY AS YET
ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM MOVES THROUGH THE MIDWEST.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

&&

MORE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT...
HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/LSX (ALL LOWER CASE)

BRITT

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 6, 5:59 PM CST, 48 minutes before

MOC007-019-027-051-073-113-135-139-151-219-070035-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
659 PM CDT TUE MAY 6 2003

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH #272 IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES ARE NO LONGER IN A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WATCH...

BOONE
MONITEAU
COLE
CALLAWAY
LINCOLN
WARREN
MONTGOMERY
OSAGE
GASCONADE

A FLOOD WATCH HOWEVER REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE
NIGHT FOR ALL OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN MISSOURI.

Local storm report, May 6, 6:04 PM CST, 43 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
704 PM CDT TUE MAY 06 2003

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

0655 PM    2N UNION                  MO   0.88 INCH HAIL
05/06/03   FRANKLIN                       REPORTED BY HAM RADIO.

Local storm report, May 6, 6:13 PM CST, 34 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
713 PM CDT TUE MAY 06 2003

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

0610 PM    POTOSI                    MO   WIND DAMAGE
05/06/03   WASHINGTON                     POWER LINES BREAKING AND
                                          TRANSFORMERS EXPLODING.

Local storm report, May 6, 6:17 PM CST, 30 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
717 PM CDT TUE MAY 06 2003

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

0716 PM    ROBERTSVILLE              MO   TORNADO
05/06/03   FRANKLIN                       REPORTED BY STATE POLICE
                                          TROOP C.

Local storm report, May 6, 6:34 PM CST, 13 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
734 PM CDT TUE MAY 06 2003

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

0635 PM    LEASBURG                  MO   WIND DAMAGE
05/06/03   CRAWFORD                       TREES DOWN REPORTED BY
                                          SPOTTER.  TIME
                                          ESTIMATED.

Local storm report, May 6, 6:47 PM CST, 0 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
747 PM CDT TUE MAY 06 2003

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

0727 PM    6N CUBA                   MO   WIND DAMAGE
05/06/03   CRAWFORD                       TREES AND POWER LINES
                                          DOWN.  REPORTED BY TROOP
                                          C.

0745 PM    DE SOTO                   MO   TORNADO
05/06/03   JEFFERSON                      TRAILERS BLOWN OVER.
                                          REPORTED BY 911.

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 62 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:45 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Jefferson

When: May 6, 6:47 PM CST to 6:55 PM CST
Where: Jefferson County, De Soto
Measured: 87 kt (100 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 38.150, -90.567

The second of 2 severe thunderstorms roared through De Soto with wind gusts approaching 100 mph. Widespread trees and power lines were down knocking power out to the entire town. Damage assessment of the area conducted by the State Emergency Management Agency and the Red Cross revealed the following:. Single family homes: 6 destroyed, 27 with major damage, and 111 with minor damage. Mobile homes: 1 destroyed, 2 with major damage, and 2 with minor damage. At the De Soto Senior and Junior High Complex, the Junior High gymnasium roof collapsed and the Senior High suffered roof damage. Teachers and students returning from a track meet wisely took refuge in a room beneath the gymnasium floor and escaped injury. Windows were also broken and virtually all trees on campus were downed. The scoreboard and the press box at the football field were also destroyed. Two businesses in town suffered major roof damage and the Parkview Baptist Church in the southeast part of town lost its entire roof. There was also significant tree and some house damage to the west and southwest of De Soto. On Dodson Road, one home was destroyed and another suffered major roof damage. Both homes sat on a ridge with a clear view to the west. In both cases, the garage doors blew in resulting in one home losing its entire roof and the other home part of its roof. Witnesses reported seeing a black and green mass covering the entire west horizon. At the home that lost its entire roof, there were nine people inside. Everyone went to the basement and escaped injury.

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 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Missouri, May 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: 5359520.