Thunderstorms developed over southwest Missouri producing one occurrance of damaging wind, pea size hail, and localized flooding. The greatest impact occurred at the McDonald County High School football field.
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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 episode as NWS SGF wrote it up.
Thunderstorms developed over southwest Missouri producing one occurrance of damaging wind, pea size hail, and localized flooding. The greatest impact occurred at the McDonald County High School football field. The press box was destroyed by thunderstorm wind gusts, and knocked into the bleachers.
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 May 23, 12:14 PM CST, 46 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO 114 PM CDT SAT MAY 23 2009 ...UPDATE TO PUBLIC AND AVIATION... .UPDATE... A BAND OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUES TO SLOWLY PUSH NORTHWEST ACROSS THE INTERSTATE 44 CORRIDOR EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. OTHER THUNDERSTORMS ARE BEGINNING TO DEVELOP ELSEWHERE ACROSS THE OZARKS AS CONVECTIVE TEMPERATURES ARE BEING REACHED. THE MOST EFFICIENT OF UPDRAFTS ARE PRODUCING SMALL HAIL. RADAR AND SURFACE OBSERVATIONS HAVE ALSO INDICATED WEAK DOWNBURST SIGNATURES...WITH WIND GUSTS GENERALLY BELOW 40 MPH. THE BIGGEST CONCERN NOW AND FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON WILL BE THE THREAT FOR HEAVY RAINFALL AND LOCALIZED FLOODING. THE RECENT STORMS OVER SPRINGFIELD ARE PRODUCING RAINFALL RATES NEARING TWO INCHES PER HOUR...WHICH IS CONCERNING GIVEN THE SLOW NORTHWESTWARD DRIFT OF THE STORMS. WILL BE MONITORING CLOSELY FOR REGENERATION OF STORMS OVER THE SAME AREAS AS OUTFLOW INTERACTS WITH THE WEAK AMBIENT HORIZONTAL SHEAR. SCHAUMANN && .DISCUSSION... THE FOCUS OF THE FORECAST IS ON CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS AN UPPER LEVEL LOW TRACKING NORTHWEST INTO THE MISSISSIPPI DELTA REGION. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED OVERNIGHT ACROSS SOUTHERN ARKANSAS ASSOCIATED WITH DEEPER GULF MOISTURE RETURN. THE UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL CONTINUE TO TRANSPORT GULF MOISTURE NORTH INTO THE PLAINS AND THE OZARKS WITH EAST SOUTHEAST FLOW ALOFT. TODAY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT WILL FAVOR THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS AIDED BY DAYTIME HEATING WITH A WEAKLY CAPPED ATMOSPHERE. THE UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL MOVE THROUGH THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY OVER THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND. MODEL CONSENSUS IS FOR THE LOW TO PROPAGATE THROUGH ARKANSAS SUNDAY AND THEN MIGRATE NORTHEAST THROUGH MISSOURI MONDAY WITH THE REMNANT LOW PHASING WITH THE WESTERLIES ACROSS THE MIDWEST TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME MORE NUMEROUS ACROSS SOUTHWEST MISSOURI AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS SUNDAY AND MONDAY AS LIFT INCREASES WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE LOW. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS COULD PERSIST SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY AS A RESULT. MONDAY WILL LIKELY BE THE COOLEST DAY OF THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND DUE TO WIDESPREAD CLOUD COVER KEEPING HIGH TEMPERATURES IN THE MID 70S. OTHERWISE...HIGHS NEAR 80 AND LOWS NEAR 60 ARE ANTICIPATED. DUE TO LIMITED INSTABILITY AND WEAK SHEAR THE POTENTIAL OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND REMAINS LOW. HOWEVER WITH PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES NEAR AN INCH AND A HALF ACROSS THE REGION...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL COULD POTENTIALLY LEAD TO LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING WHERE STRONGER THUNDERSTORM UPDRAFTS DEVELOP AND WHERE THUNDERSTORMS TRAIN ALONG RESIDUAL OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES. SLIGHT CHANCES FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE INTO THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK WITH RESIDUAL MOISTURE AND WEAK DISTURBANCES MOVING THROUGH NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT. HOWEVER COVERAGE IS EXPECTED TO BE ISOLATED TO SCATTERED AND PRIMARILY DIURNALLY DRIVEN. ANGLE && .AVIATION... THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE EARLY THIS AFTERNOON IN THE VICINITY OF KSGF AND ARE APPROACHING KJLN FROM THE EAST. THESE STORMS WILL REMAIN SCATTERED ACROSS SOUTHWEST MISSOURI FOR THE REMAINDER OF THIS AFTERNOON AND DIMINISH EARLY THIS EVENING. EXPECT MVFR CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES WITH THESE STORMS...WITH BRIEF REDUCTIONS TO IFR VISIBILITIES. WE MAY THEN SEE SOME LIGHT FOG DEVELOP LATER TONIGHT WITH MORE STORMS EXPECTED STARTING AROUND MID MORNING ON SUNDAY. SCHAUMANN && .SGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MO...NONE. KS...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO 1157 AM CDT SAT MAY 23 2009 KSZ073-097-101-MOZ055>058-066>071-077>083-088>098-101>106-241700- BOURBON-CRAWFORD-CHEROKEE-BENTON-MORGAN-MILLER-MARIES-VERNON- ST. CLAIR-HICKORY-CAMDEN-PULASKI-PHELPS-BARTON-CEDAR-POLK-DALLAS- LACLEDE-TEXAS-DENT-JASPER-DADE-GREENE-WEBSTER-WRIGHT-NEWTON- LAWRENCE-CHRISTIAN-DOUGLAS-HOWELL-SHANNON-MCDONALD-BARRY-STONE- TANEY-OZARK-OREGON- 1157 AM CDT SAT MAY 23 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF THE MISSOURI OZARKS AND EXTREME SOUTHEAST KANSAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS. A FEW STRONGER STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF DIME SIZED HAIL AND LOCALIZED WIND GUSTS OF 40 MPH. HEAVY RAINFALL MAY BRIEFLY PRODUCE FLOODING IN SMALL CREEKS AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS AS WELL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. THUNDERSTORMS ARE ANTICIPATED TO BE MORE NUMEROUS SUNDAY AND MONDAY WITH THE PASSAGE OF LOW PRESSURE THROUGH THE OZARKS. WITH LIMITED INSTABILITY AND WEAK SHEAR...NO SEVERE STORMS ARE EXPECTED. HOWEVER...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL COULD LEAD TO LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING DUE TO HIGH RAINFALL RATES FROM SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS. THUNDERSTORMS REMAIN POSSIBLE INTO THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. COVERAGE WILL BE ISOLATED TO SCATTERED AND PRIMARILY DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THROUGH TONIGHT. && THIS PRODUCT IS NOW AVAILABLE IN GRAPHICAL FORMAT...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER...HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION...AT HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/SGF(ALL LOWERCASE) DSA
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO
1140 AM CDT SAT MAY 23 2009
..TIME.. ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE.. ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION.. ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1135 AM HAIL SPRINGFIELD 37.20N 93.29W
05/23/2009 E0.25 INCH GREENE MO NWS EMPLOYEE
HAIL A LIITTLE BIGGER THAN PEAS WEST SPRINGFIELD. TWO
REPORTS.
&&
DSAThe Springfield radar (KSGF), 11 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:00 UTC.
1 flash flood, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Excessive rainfall caused flash flooding over portions of west Springfield primarily within low lying areas along Wilson's Creek.
Severe thunderstorm wind gusts destroyed the press box at the McDonald County High School football facility. The press box was blown into the bleachers as it tore into pieces.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Missouri in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Missouri, May 2009
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: 175782, 175785.