A semi-tropical low pressure system tracked across the Mid South during the late afternoon and evening of May 24, 2009 resulting in numerous showers and thunderstorms across the Missouri Bootheel. A weak tornado touched down near the Mississippi River east of Steele.
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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 MEG wrote it up.
A semi-tropical low pressure system tracked across the Mid South during the late afternoon and evening of May 24, 2009 resulting in numerous showers and thunderstorms across the Missouri Bootheel. A weak tornado touched down near the Mississippi River east of Steele.
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 Memphis, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 24, 2:29 PM CST, 2 hours 4 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 329 PM CDT SUN MAY 24 2009 .DISCUSSION... SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO SWIRL AROUND A TROPICAL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM CURRENTLY LOCATED OVER EAST CENTRAL ARKANSAS. THESE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS AS THIS LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM VERY SLOWLY MOVES OFF TO THE WEST. CONTINUED WITH HIGH POPS FOR THIS EVENING AS THE SURFACE LOW WILL BE NEARBY ALONG WITH ABUNDANT MOISTURE REMAINING OVER THE AREA. SURFACE LOW WILL BE SITUATED ACROSS CENTRAL ARKANSAS ON MONDAY AS THE MIDSOUTH REMAINS IN A MOIST AND UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE. AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THE BEST CHANCES ACROSS NORTHWEST PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA. CONVECTION SHOULD DIE OFF MONDAY NIGHT ESPECIALLY AFTER MIDNIGHT WITH THE LOSS OF DAYTIME HEATING. AN UNSETTLED WEATHER PATTERN WILL REMAIN OVER THE MIDSOUTH TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY AS MAINLY DIURNAL CONVECTION CAN BE EXPECTED OVER THE AREA. HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL BE NEAR SEASONAL NORMALS WITH HIGHS IN THE LOW TO MID 80S. NIGHTS WILL GENERALLY BE WARM AND MUGGY WITH LOWS NEAR 70 DEGREES. THE ABOVE MENTIONED SURFACE LOW WILL FINALLY CLEAR THE REGION AS A COLD FRONT APPROACHES THE MIDSOUTH WEDNESDAY NIGHT. AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL ACCOMPANY THIS COLD FRONT HELPING TO PUSH THIS FRONT THROUGH MOST OF THE FORECAST AREA BY THURSDAY. THERE WILL BE AN INCREASE IN SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ON THURSDAY ALONG THE FRONT BEFORE HIGH PRESSURE IS ABLE TO MOVE INTO THE AREA THURSDAY NIGHT/FRIDAY. BOTH THE GFS AND ECMWF ARE IN PRETTY GOOD AGREEMENT IN KEEPING NEXT WEEKEND DRY AS HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD OVER THE OHIO VALLEY AND GREAT LAKES AREA. TEMPERATURES WILL BE SEASONABLE WITH HIGHS IN THE LOW TO MID 80S AND LOWS IN THE 60S DURING THIS TIME FRAME. KNS && .AVIATION... 18Z TAFS TROPICAL SURFACE LOW WAS CENTERED ABOUT 90NM SOUTHWEST OF KMEM AT 17Z...DRIVING NORTHWEST AROUND 10KTS. THE POSITION OF THE LOW PUTS THE MIDSOUTH IN THE WARM SECTOR THIS AFTERNOON. 12Z NAM MODEL CONTINUES TO PLACE LOW TO MODERATE INSTABILITY OVER NORTH MS... THROUGH SOUTHWEST TN... INTO NORTHEAST AR THROUGH 00Z. TAFS WERE UPDATED EARLIER FOR ADDITION OF THUNDER AND ONLY MINOR ADJUSTMENTS WERE MADE FOR THE 18Z SCHEDULED ISSUANCE. LOW MVFR AND IFR CIGS APPEAR IN STORE FOR LATE EVENING AND OVERNIGHT PERIODS...THROUGH THE GFS LAMP GUIDANCE MAY BE OVERDONE JUST A BIT. CIGS SHOULD IMPROVE TO SOLID MVFR BY AROUND 15Z MONDAY. PWB && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... MEM 69 81 69 84 / 70 80 50 60 MKL 68 80 68 83 / 70 80 40 60 JBR 67 80 67 83 / 90 90 60 60 TUP 68 82 68 84 / 50 70 30 60 && .MEG WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... AR...NONE. MO...NONE. MS...NONE. TN...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 510 PM CDT SUN MAY 24 2009 ARZ008-009-017-018-026>028-035-036-048-049-058-MOZ113-115- MSZ001>017-020>024-TNZ001>004-019>021-048>055-088>092-260015- ALCORN-BENTON MS-CALHOUN-CARROLL-CHESTER-CHICKASAW-CLAY-COAHOMA- CRAIGHEAD-CRITTENDEN-CROCKETT-CROSS-DESOTO-DECATUR-DUNKLIN-DYER- FAYETTE-GIBSON-GREENE-HARDEMAN-HARDIN-HAYWOOD-HENDERSON-HENRY- ITAWAMBA-LAFAYETTE-LAKE-LAUDERDALE-LAWRENCE-LEE AR-LEE MS-MADISON- MARSHALL-MCNAIRY-MISSISSIPPI-MONROE-OBION-PANOLA-PEMISCOT- PHILLIPS-POINSETT-PONTOTOC-PRENTISS-QUITMAN-RANDOLPH-SHELBY- ST. FRANCIS-TALLAHATCHIE-TATE-TIPPAH-TIPTON-TISHOMINGO-TUNICA- UNION-WEAKLEY-YALOBUSHA- 510 PM CDT SUN MAY 24 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF EAST ARKANSAS... THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL...NORTH MISSISSIPPI...AND WEST TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT A FEW ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH STRONG WIND GUSTS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE THROUGH THIS EVENING OVER THE MID SOUTH. HEAVY RAIN AND FLASH FLOODING WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE THROUGH THIS EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY SCATTERED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY MAINLY DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND LOCALIZED FLOODING...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...GUSTY WINDS UP TO 50 MPH...AND PEA SIZE HAIL WILL BE THE MAIN HAZARDS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY STORM DAMAGE OR FLASH FLOODING TO THE MEMPHIS NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. JLH
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 437 PM CDT SUN MAY 24 2009 TNZ019-048-242200- LAUDERDALE TN-DYER TN- 437 PM CDT SUN MAY 24 2009 ...THIS SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT IS FOR... SOUTHWESTERN DYER COUNTY IN NORTHWEST TENNESSEE... NORTHEASTERN LAUDERDALE COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST TENNESSEE... A STRONG THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING 40 TO 50 MPH WINDS WAS LOCATED 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF UNIONVILLE AT 437 PM CDT...MOVING NORTHWEST AT 15 MPH. THIS STORM IS ALSO SHOWING SIGNS OF INCREASING ROTATION AND WILL BE MONITORED CLOSELY. VERY HEAVY RAIN IS ALSO POSSIBLE WITH THIS THUNDERSTORM. THIS STORM IS INTENSIFYING AND COULD BECOME SEVERE RAPIDLY. PEOPLE IN DYER AND LAUDERDALE COUNTIES SHOULD MONITOR THIS STORM CLOSELY THIS SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 500 PM CDT.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN
525 PM CDT SUN MAY 24 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0510 PM FLASH FLOOD LAKE CITY 35.82N 90.45W
05/24/2009 CRAIGHEAD AR LAW ENFORCEMENT
AREAS ALONG AND NORTH OF HIGHWAY 63 FLOODING. NO HOMES
IMPACTED AT THIS TIME.
0436 PM FLASH FLOOD JONESBORO 35.82N 90.69W
05/24/2009 CRAIGHEAD AR LAW ENFORCEMENT
STREET FLOODING WIDESPREAD ACROSS CITY. NO HOMES
IMPACTED.
&&
MRMThe Memphis radar (KNQA), 80 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:31 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A weak tornado crossed the Mississippi River from Dyer County and continued across open farmland to near Cottonwood Point. No damage occurred with this tornado.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Missouri in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Missouri, 2009Warnings 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: 175202.