Heavy rainfall from a stratiform system with some embedded convection lead to flooding. Wet antecedent ground conditions contributed to the flooding that occurred.
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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.
Heavy rainfall from a stratiform system with some embedded convection lead to flooding. Wet antecedent ground conditions contributed to the flooding that occurred.
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 Oct 22, 2:07 PM CST, 58 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO 307 PM CDT THU OCT 22 2009 .DISCUSSION... MAIN FORECAST CHALLENGES IN THIS FORECAST PACKAGE WILL DEAL WITH RAIN EXITING TO THE EAST TONIGHT....THEN WITH PRECIPITATION LATE IN THE WEEKEND AND AGAIN DURING THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. CURRENTLY...AREA OF SURFACE LOW PRESSURE IS CENTERED OVER THE MIDDLE OF WESTERN HALF OF THE CWA. A COLD FRONT EXTENDS TO THE SOUTH OF THIS LOW AND IS CURRENTLY JUST WEST OF HIGHWAY 65. A SHIELD OF LIGHT TO OCCASIONAL MODERATE RAINFALL COVERS THE EASTERN CWA...GENERALLY EAST OF HIGHWAY 65 AHEAD OF THE SYSTEM. TO THE WEST A DRY SLOT IS BUILDING INTO THE AREA...LIMITING THE PRECIPITATION TO MORE OF A DRIZZLE AND OR SPRINKLES VARIETY. AN AREA OF MODERATE RAINFALL CURRENTLY EXTENDS FROM CENTRAL ARKANSAS INTO NORTHWESTERN ARKANSAS THIS AFTERNOON. AS THE LOW LIFTS TO THE NORTHEAST OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS...THIS MODERATE RAINFALL WILL LIKELY ROTATE INTO SOUTH CENTRAL MISSOURI. THE RAINFALL RATES WITH THIS ACTIVITY ARE NOT OVERLY IMPRESSIVE...AS THEY ARE GENERALLY A QUARTER TO HALF INCH PER HOUR. HOWEVER...IF THIS ACTIVITY TRAINS OVER THE SAME LOCATION FOR SEVERAL HOURS RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL ACCUMULATE. WITH THE SATURATED GROUNDS...STILL CANNOT RULE OUT LOCALIZED FLOODING ACROSS FAR SOUTH CENTRAL MISSOURI THIS EVENING. THE OVERALL THREAT FOR FLOODING IS LOW...HOWEVER CANNOT BE COMPLETELY RULED OUT YET. BY MIDNIGHT THE RAINFALL SHOULD GENERALLY TAPER OFF...AS THE LOW SHIFTS OFF TO THE NORTHEAST AND THE MID LEVEL DRY SLOT PUNCHES INTO THE REGION. LOW CLOUDS AND PERIODS OF DRIZZLE WILL REMAIN OVER THE AREA INTO SATURDAY. A COOLER AIRMASS WILL FILTER INTO THE REGION TONIGHT BEHIND THE FRONT. WITH THE CLOUD COVER AND COOL AIRMASS...FRIDAY HIGHS WILL LIKELY REMAIN IN THE 40S ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA...RESULTING IN A COOL AND DREARY DAY TOMORROW. TEMPERATURES WILL RECOVER SOME THIS WEEKEND AS AN UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE AREA. AN UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL DIVE OUT OF THE NORTHERN PLAINS LATE THIS WEEKEND. AN ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL PUSH INTO THE AREA LATE SUNDAY INTO SUNDAY NIGHT. MOISTURE WILL STILL BE SOMEWHAT LIMITED...SO INSTABILITY WILL LIKELY BE LIMITED AS WELL. THINK THERE WILL BE ENOUGH MOISTURE FOR A SOME SCATTERED SHOWERS ALONG THE FRONT...BUT HAVE LEFT THUNDER OUT AT THIS TIME DUE TO THE LACK OF INSTABILITY. A STRONGER STORM SYSTEM WILL AFFECT THE REGION DURING THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. MEDIUM MODELS CONTINUE TO DIFFER FROM EACH OTHER AND FROM RUN TO RUN WITH THIS SYSTEM. SO THE EXACT TIMING AND TRACK OF THIS SYSTEM IS STILL UNCLEAR. WHAT IS KNOWN IS THAT A COLD FRONT WILL PUSH THROUGH THE AREA...AND SHOULD BE THE FOCUS FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. WILL GET A BETTER HANDLE ON THIS SYSTEM WITH FUTURE MODEL RUNS. WISE && .AVIATION... FOR THE 18Z TAFS...THE LOW PRESSURE CENTER CURRENTLY MOVING ACROSS WEST CENTRAL MISSOURI WILL CONTINUE TO PULL MOISTURE INTO THE REGION THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING WITH WRAP AROUND DRIZZLE AND LOW CEILINGS. THIS WILL KEEP THE REGION CLOUDY WITH IFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED THOUGH EARLY FRIDAY MORNING GIVING WAY TO MVFR CONDITIONS. EXPECT AREAS OF DRIZZLE AND LOWER CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES WHERE BANDS OF MID OR UPPER LEVEL ENERGY ROTATE AROUND THE UPPER LEVEL LOW. HATCH && .SGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MO...NONE. KS...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO 1256 PM CDT THU OCT 22 2009 KSZ073-097-101-MOZ055>058-066>071-077>083-088>098-101>106-231800- 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- 1256 PM CDT THU OCT 22 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF THE MISSOURI OZARKS AND EXTREME SOUTHEAST KANSAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL MISSOURI INTO THE EVENING HOURS. STORM TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF ONE TO TWO INCHES WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS FAR SOUTH CENTRAL MISSOURI THROUGH THIS EVENING. WITH THE SATURATED GROUNDS LOCALIZED FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL MISSOURI MAY STILL BE POSSIBLE. INSTABILITY WILL REMAIN WEAK WITH NO SEVERE WEATHER EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM WILL AFFECT THE REGION DURING THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK...WHICH WILL BRING CHANCES FOR THUNDERSTORMS TO THE AREA. .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) WISE
The Springfield radar (KSGF), 111 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:04 UTC.
7 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The low water crossing at Cable Ridge Road near Rainy Creek flooded and was impassible.
The West Plains Police Department and the Howell County Sheriff reported most low water crossings were flooded around West Plains.
Several streets in Mountain View were closed due to flash flooding.
Route E was closed due to flooding.
Route 142 was closed due to flooding near Highway 17.
Route 17 was closed due to flooding near Highway 60.
Route W was closed due to flooding near Highway 17.
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, October 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 199554, 199555, 199556, 199557, 199558, 199559, 199560.