A frontal boundary and an associated upper level storm system, caused heavy rain and minor river flooding, on the Marais Des Cygnes River.
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The episode as NWS EAX wrote it up.
A frontal boundary and an associated upper level storm system, caused heavy rain and minor river flooding, on the Marais Des Cygnes River.
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 Kansas City, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 18, 8:50 PM CST, 1 hour 55 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO 950 PM CDT TUE MAR 18 2008 .DISCUSSION... WILL HOLD ONTO CLOUD COVER A BIT LONGER OVERNIGHT AND USE PASSAGE OF MID LEVEL TROUGH AS CLEARING LINE. ALSO NOTICED STRATUS/STRATOCU DECK OVER IA IS SLIDING SSE INTO NORTHERN MO WHICH WILL PROLONG THE CLOUD COVER OVER THE NORTHEASTERN CWA FOR ENTIRE NIGHT. ALSO ADJUSTED TEMPERATURES UPWARDS BY A FEW DEGREES. LEFT A VERY NARROW STRIP OF LOW END POPS ACROSS FAR SOUTHEASTERN CWA. MJ && .PREV DISCUSSION... /400 PM CDT TUE MAR 18 2008/ SHORT RANGE (TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT... AS CUT OFF LOW OVER TEXAS BEGINS TO WEAKEN AND LIFT NORTHEAST TONIGHT...IT SHOULD BEGIN TO MERGE WITH THE NORTHERN STREAM SHORT WAVE THAT WILL BE SITUATED ACROSS IOWA AND NORTHWEST MISSOURI BY 12Z WEDNESDAY. THE EFFECT OF THE APPROACHING NORTHERN STREAM WAVE TODAY HAS BEEN TO HELP FOCUS THE BETTER MOISTURE WELL SOUTH OF THE FORECAST REGION IN VICINITY OF SURFACE AND 850 MB FRONTS NOW SITUATED IN SOUTHEAST MISSOURI. THIS HAS LEFT THE FORECAST AREA ON THE EDGE OF THE PRECIPITATION SHIELD TODAY...AND SHOULD CONTINUE TO SEE A GRADUAL SHIFT FURTHER TO THE SOUTHEAST TONIGHT AS THE UPPER LEVEL FEATURES MOVE EAST. BIG QUESTION IS HOW QUICKLY AND HOW FAR TO THE SOUTHEAST THE CLEARING CAN TAKE PLACE. CLEARING THIS AFTERNOON HAS BEEN PRETTY COINCIDENT WITH PASSAGE OF 700 MB TROUGH...BUT LOOKING AT MODELS...THEY HOLD ONTO LOW LEVEL MOISTURE ACROSS SOUTHEAST HALF OF FORECAST AREA THROUGH THE NIGHT...SO WILL KEEP MOSTLY CLOUDY CONDITIONS IN THOSE AREAS THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING. WHERE SKIES DO CLEAR...HAVE SOME CONCERNS OF FOG DEVELOPMENT WITH THE WET GROUND. HOWEVER...WINDS JUST ABOVE THE BOUNDARY LAYER SHOULD STAY UP AT 25 TO 30 KTS OVERNIGHT...WHICH SHOULD KEEP SOME MIXING GOING ON. HOWEVER...THE LOWER LYING AREAS THAT TRULY DECOUPLE MAY SEE FOG...SO WILL MENTION PATCHY FOG IN NORTHWEST THIRD OF FORECAST AREA FOR LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY ON WEDNESDAY. ON WEDNESDAY...AREA WILL BE UNDER A NORTHWEST FLOW WITH A WEAK MOISTURE STARVED SHORT WAVE EXPECTED TO BE DROPPING SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE DAKOTAS. EXPECT THE EFFECT OF THIS WAVE WEDNESDAY NIGHT TO STAY NORTH OF THE FORECAST AREA...AS UPPER RIDGE BEGINS TO BUILD IN THE CENTRAL PLAINS. THE UPPER RIDGING SHOULD MOVE ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA ON THURSDAY. SURFACE LOW PRESSURE WILL BE DEVELOPING IN THE HIGH PLAINS OF KANSAS BY AFTERNOON IN RESPONSE TO THE NEXT SHORT WAVE MOVING OUT OF THE NORTHERN ROCKIES. THESE PRESSURE FALLS SHOULD HELP TO STRENGTHEN A SOUTHERLY RETURN FLOW ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA ON THURSDAY WITH A WARM FRONT BECOMING PARALLEL TO THE UPPER FLOW ACROSS NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA. WILL RAISE AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES SOUTH OF THIS WARM FRONT. PC MEDIUM RANGE (FRIDAY-TUESDAY)... FAIRLY ACTIVE EXTENDED PERIOD AS A FAST MOVING FLOW REGIME WILL DOMINATE THE REGION. SEMI ZONAL FLOW PATTERN WILL START THE WEEKEND WITH THE FIRST OF THE UPPER WAVES TO AFFECT THE AREA ON ITS WAY OUT BY FRIDAY. KEPT SLIGHT CHC MENTION OF RAIN DURING THIS TIME FRAME WITH HIGHER CHANCES ACROSS THE NORTHEAST CWA...MAINLY FOR AREAS IN CLOSER PROXIMITY TO THE MAIN VORT MAX. THIS WAVE SHOULD MOVE FAIRLY QUICKLY OFF TO THE EAST AS THE NEXT SYSTEM PUSHES ACROSS THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST AND INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS BY SATURDAY MORNING. THIS SHOULD PRESENT THE AREA WITH A CHANCE OF PRECIPITATION FOR THE SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY TIME FRAME. INITIALLY...TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE SUPPORTIVE OF ALL RAIN. HOWEVER...AS THE ATMOSPHERIC COLUMN COOLS SUFFICIENTLY BY SATURDAY NIGHT...A CHANGE OVER TO SNOW WILL CERTAINLY BE POSSIBLE. THIS STILL A WAYS OUT AND DIDNT GET TOO SPECIFIC AT THIS TIME...KEEPING A GENERAL RAIN/SNOW MIX ACROSS MOST AREAS. BY MONDAY...THE EURO ADVERTISES ANOTHER FAST MOVING SYSTEM TO DIVE INTO THE PLAINS AND AFFECT THE AREA BY TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY. OPERATIONAL GFS LESS AGGRESSIVE WITH THIS SYSTEM...HOWEVER GFS ENSEMBLE MEAN INDICATES SOME SIGN OF THE SAME WAVE THE EURO ADVERTISES. THEREFORE...INTRODUCED POPS INTO THE MON NIGHT/TUES TIME FRAME TO ACCOUNT. DEROCHE && .AVIATION... FOR THE 00Z TAF...NORTHERN EDGE OF EXTENSIVE HIGH LEVEL CLOUDINESS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS ALL BUT FAR NORTHWEST MO THROUGH MOST OF THE NIGHT. SO VFR CONDITIONS WILL PREVAIL DURING THIS TIME. AS HIGHER CLOUDS SCATTER OUT LATE TONIGHT MVFR FOG IS EXPECTED TO FORM. COULD SEE SURFACE VISIBILITIES REDUCED TO 1SM AT TIMES AT STJ. AFTER 14Z LITTLE IF ANY CLOUD COVER AND VFR VISIBILITIES FOR THE REST OF THE FORECAST. MJ && .EAX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MO...NONE. KS...NONE.
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO 106 PM CDT TUE MAR 18 2008 KSZ025-057-060-102>105-MOZ001>008-011>017-020>025-028>033-037>040- 043>046-053-054-191815- ATCHISON KS-MIAMI-LINN KS-DONIPHAN-LEAVENWORTH-WYANDOTTE- JOHNSON KS-ATCHISON MO-NODAWAY-WORTH-GENTRY-HARRISON-MERCER- PUTNAM-SCHUYLER-HOLT-ANDREW-DE KALB-DAVIESS-GRUNDY-SULLIVAN-ADAIR- BUCHANAN-CLINTON-CALDWELL-LIVINGSTON-LINN MO-MACON-PLATTE-CLAY- RAY-CARROLL-CHARITON-RANDOLPH-JACKSON-LAFAYETTE-SALINE-HOWARD- CASS-JOHNSON MO-PETTIS-COOPER-BATES-HENRY- 106 PM CDT TUE MAR 18 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHWEST...NORTH CENTRAL AND WEST CENTRAL MISSOURI...AS WELL AS EXTREME EASTERN KANSAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS...PERIODS OF RAIN WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT AREAS ALONG AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM BLUE MOUND KANSAS TO BUTLER...CLINTON...SEDALIA AND BOONVILLE MISSOURI. THE RAIN IS NOT EXPECTED TO BE HEAVY...BUT WILL KEEP RIVERS AND CREEKS RUNNING HIGH ACROSS THIS REGION. NUMEROUS FLOOD WARNINGS REMAIN IN EFFECT DUE TO THE HEAVY RAINFALL THAT OCCURRED ON MONDAY. SEE THE LATEST FLOOD STATEMENTS FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY A STORM SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO BE MOVING ACROSS IOWA AND MISSOURI SATURDAY NIGHT AND INTO SUNDAY. IT APPEARS THIS SYSTEM MAY BE COLD ENOUGH TO PRODUCE SNOW IN THE OUTLOOK AREA...ALTHOUGH IT IS TOO EARLY TO PINPOINT ANY AMOUNTS THAT MAY OCCUR. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. PC
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The Marais Des Cygnes River at La Cygne crested at 26.11 feet, or 1.11 feet above flood stage.
The Marais Des Cygnes River at Osawatomie crested at 28.06 feet, or 0.06 of a foot above flood stage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, March 2008
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: 88054, 88055.