An outbreak of severe thunderstorms was triggered by an unseasonably strong low pressure system over the Upper Mississippi Valley. The trailing cold front swept east across southeast Missouri.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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 PAH wrote it up.
An outbreak of severe thunderstorms was triggered by an unseasonably strong low pressure system over the Upper Mississippi Valley. The trailing cold front swept east across southeast Missouri. Strong south winds ahead of this front brought adequate moisture and instability for a line of low-topped convection. Minimal lightning activity was reported.
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 Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 26, 2:17 AM CST, 38 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
317 AM CDT TUE OCT 26 2010
.DISCUSSION...
MAIN CONCERN FOR THIS FORECAST IS THE POTENTIALLY SIGNIFICANT
SEVERE WEATHER EPISODE TO UNFOLD SHORTLY. SPC NOW HAS THE
EVANSVILLE TRI STATE IN A HIGH RISK...WITH MUCH OF THE AREA EAST
OF THE MISSISSIPPI IN A MODERATE RISK...AND SOUTHEAST MISSOURI IN A
SLIGHT RISK. WITH THE EXTREME LOW AND HIGH LAYER SHEAR AND MODEST
SURFACE BASED INSTABILITY EXPECTED OVER THE QUAD
STATE...WIDESPREAD DAMAGING WINDS SEEM LIKELY...ESPECIALLY IN THE
13Z TO 16Z TIMEFRAME OVER THE EVANSVILLE TRI STATE. IF DISCRETE
CELLS CAN DEVELOP AHEAD OF OR WITHIN THE LINE...TORNADIC
SUPERCELLS WILL BE A REALITY.
MADE ONLY MINOR TWEAKS TO THE INHERITED POP/WEATHER/QPF GRIDS MAINLY
FOR TIMING WHICH SEEMS TO BE FASTER THAN EARLIER EXPECTED...MORE
IN LINE WITH GFS OR SREF. IT STILL APPEARS THAT THE CONVECTION
WILL BE EAST OF THE AREA BY 18Z. DID MAKE SOME CHANGES TO SHOW NON
DIURNAL TEMPERATURE TRENDS AS THE LINE/FRONT TRAVERSE THE AREA.
MAY SEE QUITE A FEW MORNING HIGHS OVER THE EASTERN HALF OF THE AREA.
AS FOR THE WIND ADVISORY...IT WILL BE LEFT ALONE. ALREADY HAVE
SEEN GUSTS 34-39KTS AT KCGI AND KMDH...AND FEEL THAT 40KT GUSTS
ARE A SAFE BET FOR MUCH OF THE AREA. IT SHOULD BE WORST AHEAD OF THE
FRONT...WHICH SHOULD BE OUT OF THE AREA AROUND 18Z. HOWEVER...SOME
NEAR SEVERE GUSTS MAY PERSIST FOR AN HOUR OR TWO BEHIND THE
CONVECTIVE LINE ACROSS THE EVANSVILLE TRI STATE AREA. WILL HAVE TO
WATCH THIS AREA FOR A HIGH WIND WARNING LATER. THE 20Z EXPIRATION
OF THE ADVISORY MIGHT BE AN HOUR OR TWO TOO LATE...BUT WILL GIVE
THE WINDS A WIDE BERTH.
FOR TONIGHT AND BEYOND THE FORECAST CONTINUES TO BE DRY. NEXT HOPE
FOR RAIN WILL BE EARLY NEXT WEEK...AT THE EARLIEST. SHOULD SEE
MILD AND DRY CONDITIONS ON WEDNESDAY ALONG WITH WINDS 10 TO 20 MPH
WITH HIGHER GUSTS. THIS SPELLS MORE FIRE CONCERNS DEPENDING ON HOW
WET THE FUELS GET TODAY. DRY COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE
REGION LATE WEDNESDAY. IT WILL BRING A TEMPORARY END TO THE MILD
WEATHER. HIGHS THURSDAY WILL STRUGGLE TO REACH 60 IN SOME
LOCATIONS...WHILE FRIDAY MORNING MAY SEE A FREEZE IN MANY
LOCATIONS. A MODEST WARM UP IS EXPECTED THROUGH THE WEEKEND WHEN
WE WILL LIKELY BE BACK ABOVE NORMAL.
&&
.AVIATION...
BY THE TIME OF THE ISSUANCE OF THE 12Z TUESDAY TAF
PACKAGE...CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY SHOULD BE ONGOING AT KCGI AND
KPAH...WITH SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO KEVV AND KOWB
BETWEEN 13Z-15Z. MVFR CEILINGS BETWEEN 1.5-2.5KFT AGL SHOULD
DOMINATE WITH THE EXPECTED SQUALL LINE AND POSSIBLY DISCRETE
THUNDERSTORMS AHEAD OF THE LINE NEAR THE KPAH/KEVV/KOWB TAF SITES.
CEILINGS SHOULD BECOME RAPIDLY VFR FROM WEST TO EAST BETWEEN 14Z
/KCGI/ TO 20Z /KOWB/. THE MAIN CONCERN WILL BE THE WINDS...AS BOTH
PRE-FRONTAL AND POST-FRONTAL WINDS MAY BE SUSTAINED BETWEEN 15-25
KNOTS WITH GUSTS RANGING FROM 20-40 KNOTS WITH THE CONVECTIVE
ACTIVITY. A LAST MINUTE ADJUSTMENT WILL NEED TO BE MADE...ESPECIALLY
FOR THE KEVV/KOWB TO ADD A SHORT PERIOD GROUP /1-2 HOURS LONG/ FOR
POTENTIAL GUSTS NEAR OR EXCEEDING 50 KNOTS IN AND NEAR THE
CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY. THE WINDS SHOULD DIMINISH MARKEDLY BELOW 10
KNOTS BY 23-00Z WEDNESDAY.
&&
.PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
KY...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 3 PM CDT THIS AFTERNOON FOR BALLARD-CALDWELL-
CALLOWAY-CARLISLE-CHRISTIAN-CRITTENDEN-DAVIESS-FULTON-
GRAVES-HENDERSON-HICKMAN-HOPKINS-LIVINGSTON-LYON-MARSHALL-
MCCRACKEN-MCLEAN-MUHLENBERG-TODD-TRIGG-UNION KY-WEBSTER.
MO...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 3 PM CDT THIS AFTERNOON FOR BOLLINGER-BUTLER-
CAPE GIRARDEAU-CARTER-MISSISSIPPI-NEW MADRID-PERRY MO-
RIPLEY-SCOTT-STODDARD-WAYNE MO.
IL...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 3 PM CDT THIS AFTERNOON FOR ALEXANDER-
EDWARDS-FRANKLIN-GALLATIN-HAMILTON-HARDIN-JACKSON-JEFFERSON-
JOHNSON-MASSAC-PERRY IL-POPE-PULASKI-SALINE-UNION IL-WABASH-
WAYNE IL-WHITE-WILLIAMSON.
IN...WIND ADVISORY UNTIL 3 PM CDT THIS AFTERNOON FOR GIBSON-PIKE-
POSEY-SPENCER-VANDERBURGH-WARRICK.
&&
PUBLIC.....DRS
AVIATION...KES<!doctype html>
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</html>The St Louis radar (KLSX), 191 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 08:56 UTC.
8 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Trees were down across a few county roads in western Carter County. The roads were blocked and impassable.
Trees were down across a few county roads at various locations in the eastern part of Carter County.
A few trees were down across roads at locations scattered across the county.
South of Patton on Highway 51, a carport was pulled from the ground and thrown into a tree.
Large tree limbs were down across power lines at Lutesville. Large trees were down near Highway 51 at Highway FF.
Trees were blown down throughout the city.
A few trees were blown down across the county. Power lines were down along Highway Y near Sikeston.
Several tree limbs were blown down. A large portion of a tree fell on a house.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Missouri in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyWarnings in Missouri, October 2010
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: 260852, 260853, 260854, 260856, 260857, 260858, 260859, 263057.