Flash Flooding and Hail in Missouri, June 3 to 4, 2008

Name: Flash Flooding and Hail in Missouri, June 3 to 4, 2008
Start: 2008-06-03T18:41
End: 2008-06-04T03:45
Location: Missouri

June 3 to 4, 2008 · NWS LSX · 6 events in 4 counties and zones

Several boundaries from previous activity remained over the region with very unstable conditions. This helped to trigger another round of severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall.

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: $102,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 6

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.

Several boundaries from previous activity remained over the region with very unstable conditions. This helped to trigger another round of severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfall.

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 Jun 3, 5:32 PM CST, 1 hour 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 3, 5:32 PM CST, 1 hour 9 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED AVIATION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
632 PM CDT TUE JUN 3 2008

.DISCUSSION...
/420 PM CDT TUE JUN 3 2008/
THE MAIN CONCERNS OVER THE NEXT 12 HOURS REVOLVE AROUND FLASH
FLOOD AND SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL. NEARLY SATURATED GROUND FROM
ALL OF THE RECENT HEAVY RAINFALL THAT HAS OCCURRED OVER A WIDE
SWATH OF THE FA...THE VERY RECENT HEAVY RAINFALL THAT OCCURRED
THIS MORNING OVER THE NRN AND NERN FA...AND MANY AREA RIVERS ARE
ALREADY NEAR BANKFULL OR IN FLOOD HAVE RAISED CONCERN LEVELS FOR
FLASH FLOODING. ADD TO THAT THE POTENTIAL FOR ADDITIONAL HEAVY
RAIN PRODUCING STORMS FROM TRAINING ALONG THE W-E ORIENTED LO
LEVEL BOUNDARY...AND RESULTING FFG VALUES OVER 6 HOURS ARE LESS
THAN 2 INCHES OVER A LARGE AREA OF THE FA. VERY RICH MOISTURE THRU
THE COLUMN WILL CONTRIBUTE TO HI EFFICIENCY RAIN SO HAVE ISSUED A
FFA FOR TONIGHT TO COVER THESE CONCERNS.

SEVERE WEATHER ALSO REMAINS A THREAT TONIGHT. BOUNDARY HAS BEEN LAID
OUT OVER THE NRN AND NERN FA FROM TWO MCS THAT WENT THRU THE AREA
THIS MORNING. THIS WILL BE ONE AREA OF FOCUS. BUT ANOTHER AREA HAS
TAKEN SHAPE IN ADVANCE OF A SHORTWAVE MOVING EWD...WITH DEVELOPMENT
OF CU FIELD OVER ERN KS AND WRN AND NRN MO. BETWEEN THESE TWO AREAS
FOR TSRA FOCUS...AND CONTINUED DE-STABILIZATION AS LI/S HAVE DROPPED
TO -10 OVER MUCH OF THE AREA...LOOK FOR NEW TSRA INITATION TO OCCUR
BY 22/23Z. DEGREE OF INSTABILITY IN THE AMS...LOOKING AT MID LEVEL
LAPSE RATES AND SHEAR...WILL ENABLE STORMS TO RAPIDLY INTENSIFY TO
SEVERE LEVELS. SHEAR IS FAVORABLE FOR TORNADIC STORMS EARLY ON.

WITH MID LEVEL FLOW BACKING FROM ZONAL TO SWLY BY THURSDAY...LOOK
FOR FRONTAL BOUNDARIES THAT COULD SERVE AS A FOCUS TO LARGELY SHIFT
THE ACTION NWD...LEAVING A SMALL QUIET PERIOD FOR OUR FA. THIS WILL
BE BROKEN WHEN A STRONG SHORTWAVE TAKES A SWIPE AT OUR FA LATE
THURSDAY NIGHT AND FRIDAY.

FOR THE EXTENDED PERIOD (FRIDAY NIGHT - TUESDAY)...MODELS ARE IN
REASONABLE AGREEMENT ON A PERISTENT SWLY MID LEVEL FLOW PATTERN THAT
WILL TAKE HOLD OVER THE MID MS VALLEY...WITH A STUBBORN H500 HI OVER
THE SERN CONUS AND A SERIES OF SHORTWAVES THAT WILL SEEK TO CUT INTO
THIS HI DURING THIS TIME. AT THE SURFACE...THIS WILL MAKE IT TOUGH
FOR ANY FRONTS TO MOVE INTO OUR AREA OR PERSIST FOR VERY LONG. THE
BEST CHANCE FOR A FRONTAL INTRUSION INTO OUR AREA WILL BE EARLY IN
THE PERIOD...FRIDAY NIGHT AND EARLY SATURDAY...UNTIL MID LEVEL FLOW
BACKS MORE AND FORCES ANY FRONTS TO OUR N. HAVE THE BEST PCPN
CHANCES DURING FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY...AND LIMIT ANY OTHER PCPN
CHANCES TO SLIGHT CHANCE UNTIL WE GET A BETTER HANDLE ON POSSIBLE
OUTFLOW EFFECTS FROM ANY MCS THAT MOVE THRU. SLY SFC WINDS WILL BE
DOMINANT DURING THIS PERIOD. THIS WILL MAINTAIN OUR ABOVE NORMAL
TEMPERATURES.

TES

&&

.AVIATION...
/628 PM CDT TUE JUN 3 2008/
FOR THE 00Z TAFS...INITIAL FOCUS FOR TSRA DEVELOPMENT WILL BE CU
FIELD OVER WRN MO AHEAD OF MID LEVEL SHORTWAVE...AND OLD OUTFLOW
BOUNDARY FROM THIS MORNING/S MCS THAT MOVED THRU OVER THE NRN/NERN
FA. HAVE PLACED THE INITIAL VCTS AND TEMPO TSRA MENTION OVER
KUIN/KCOU TERMINALS IN LIGHT OF THIS. HAVE DELAYED A LITTLE BIT
FOR KSTL/KSUS UNTIL CONVECTION HAS A CHANCE TO DEVELOP MORE AND
CONGEAL...AND LOOK FOR MAIN EPISODE THERE TO OCCUR TOWARD
MIDNIGHT. LOOK FOR MUCH OF THE CONVECTION TO BEGIN TO EXIT OR WIND
DOWN SOME TIME LATE TONIGHT. OTHERWISE...LOOK FOR SSW SFC WINDS TO
CONTINUE WITH VFR CONDITIONS OUTSIDE OF TSRA. LIMITED TSRA MENTION
ON WEDNESDAY TO JUST THE KUIN TERMINAL AND A PROB30 DURING THE
AFTERNOON AT THAT.

TES

&&

.LSX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
MO...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING FOR AUDRAIN-BOONE-
     CALLAWAY-COLE-FRANKLIN-GASCONADE-JEFFERSON-KNOX-LEWIS-
     LINCOLN-MARION-MONITEAU-MONROE-MONTGOMERY-OSAGE-PIKE-RALLS-
     SHELBY-ST. CHARLES-ST. LOUIS-ST. LOUIS CITY-WARREN.

IL...FLASH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING FOR ADAMS IL-BOND IL-
     BROWN IL-CALHOUN IL-CLINTON IL-FAYETTE IL-GREENE IL-JERSEY
     IL-MACOUPIN IL-MADISON IL-MARION IL-MONROE IL-MONTGOMERY IL-
     PIKE IL-ST. CLAIR IL-WASHINGTON IL.

&&

WFO LSX

Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 3, 3:20 PM CST, 3 hours 21 minutes before

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
420 PM CDT TUE JUN 3 2008

ILZ058>060-064-065-069-070-074-079-095>102-MOZ018-019-026-027-
034>036-041-042-047>052-059>065-072>075-084-085-099-041200-
GREENE IL-MACOUPIN IL-MONTGOMERY IL-BOND IL-FAYETTE IL-CLINTON IL-
MARION IL-WASHINGTON IL-RANDOLPH IL-ADAMS IL-BROWN IL-PIKE IL-
CALHOUN IL-JERSEY IL-MADISON IL-ST. CLAIR IL-MONROE IL-KNOX-LEWIS-
SHELBY-MARION-MONROE-RALLS-PIKE-BOONE-AUDRAIN-MONITEAU-COLE-OSAGE-
CALLAWAY-MONTGOMERY-LINCOLN-GASCONADE-WARREN-ST. CHARLES-FRANKLIN-
ST. LOUIS-ST. LOUIS CITY-JEFFERSON-CRAWFORD-WASHINGTON-
ST. FRANCOIS-STE. GENEVIEVE-IRON-MADISON-REYNOLDS-
420 PM CDT TUE JUN 3 2008

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EASTERN AND
CENTRAL MISSOURI AS WELL AS WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT

THERE IS A MODERATE RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER MUCH OF
THE BI-STATE AREA INTO LATE THIS EVENING...ROUGHLY NORTH OF A
LINE FROM SPARTA ILLINOIS TO ROLLA MISSOURI. THERE IS A SLIGHT
RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA.
THE STRONGEST STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL TO
GOLF BALL SIZE...DAMAGING WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH...AND
EVEN STRONG TORNADOES. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON CONVECTIVE
WATCHES...PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST STORM PREDICTION CENTER
WATCH PRODUCTS.

THE COMBINATION OF RECENT HEAVY RAINFALL...RIVERS AT BANKFULL...
AND THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAINFALL PRODUCING STORMS...A FLASH
FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF THE AREA. FOR FURTHER
INFORMATION...PLEASE REFER TO THE WATCH PRODUCT.

SIGNIFICANT FLOODING FROM RIVERS IN NORTHEAST MISSOURI AND THE
MISSISSIPPI RIVER IS EXPECTED. SEE THE APPROPRIATE FLOOD
STATEMENT FOR SPECIFIC DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

THE CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH SATURDAY.
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE AT LEAST EACH DAY THROUGH
FRIDAY.

LOOK FOR WINDY CONDITIONS ON THURSDAY...WITH SOUTH WINDS GUSTING
TO AS HIGH AS 35 MPH.

SIGNIFICANT FLOODING FROM RIVERS IN NORTHEAST MISSOURI AND THE
MISSISSIPPI RIVER IS EXPECTED. SEE THE APPROPRIATE FLOOD
STATEMENT FOR SPECIFIC DETAILS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS LIKELY FOR MUCH OF THE AREA THROUGH LATE
EVENING. SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY SEVERE WEATHER...
FLOODING...OR HEAVY RAINFALL MEASUREMENTS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE.

&&

FOR A GRAPHICAL VERSION OF THIS INFORMATION SEE OUR
WEBPAGE AT (LOWERCASE)... HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/LSX/?N=HWO1

TES

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 176 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:41 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 flash flood, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Shelby

When: June 3, 6:41 PM CST
Where: Shelby County, 5 mi W of Shelbyville
Measured: 0.75 in hail
Reported by: County Official
Coordinates: 39.800, -92.144

Lightning, Shelby

When: June 3, 8:00 PM CST
Where: Shelby County, Shelbyville
Property damage: $100,000
Reported by: Newspaper
Coordinates: 39.800, -92.050

The communications tower at the county courthouse in Shelbyville was struck by lightning damaging computers for the 911 system and the sheriff's office, radio consoles, and various other electronic equipment. Damage is estimated around $100,000.

Flash Flood, Shelby

When: June 3, 8:07 PM CST to June 4, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Shelby County, 1.32 mi WSW of Cherry Box to 4.83 mi NE of Sigsbee
Cause: Heavy Rain
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: County Official
Coordinates: 39.924, -92.274

Over 3 inches of rain fell on Shelby county on already saturated soils. This caused widespread flash flooding. Numerous secondary roads were flooded including Highway 151 north of Clarence, Highway N north of Lentner, and Highways K and 15 near Shelbyville.

Flash Flood, Knox

When: June 3, 11:00 PM CST to June 4, 3:45 AM CST
Where: Knox County, Colony to 0.96 mi N of Kenwood
Cause: Heavy Rain
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: Newspaper
Coordinates: 40.250, -91.980

Up to three inches of rain fell on already saturated soils in Knox county. Several secondary roads were flooded including Route K just southwest of Colony, where it goes over the Middle Fabius River.

Thunderstorm Wind, Moniteau

When: June 4, 12:16 AM CST
Where: Moniteau County, California
Measured: 52 kt (60 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: Law Enforcement
Coordinates: 38.630, -92.570

Thunderstorm Wind, Ste. Genevieve

When: June 4, 2:00 AM CST
Where: Ste. Genevieve County, 0.99 mi SSW of Ste Genevieve Arpt
Measured: 56 kt (64 mph) estimated gust
Reported by: Newspaper
Coordinates: 37.966, -90.034

A large pecan tree was blown down near the Ste. Genevieve County Recycling Center on U.S. 61 on the southeast side of town. It took out several power lines as it fell, knocking out power to about 300 homes and businesses.

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.
Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.
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 2008 Every state in 2008 This day in weather history Warnings in Missouri, June 2008

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: 114842, 122515, 122444, 122516, 114844, 122517.