Extremely dry conditions and vegetation along with the drought conditions led to a rapidly spreading brushfire in western Greene County.
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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.
Extremely dry conditions and vegetation along with the drought conditions led to a rapidly spreading brushfire in western Greene County.
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 Aug 7, 2:19 PM CST, 41 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO 319 PM CDT TUE AUG 7 2012 .DISCUSSION... ANOTHER RATHER VERY WARM TO HOT DAY ACROSS THE OZARKS AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS THIS AFTERNOON BUT SOME NICE CHANGES ARE COMING IN A FEW DAYS. AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES WERE IN THE UPPER 90S TO AROUND 100 AT SOME LOCATIONS IN SOUTHEAST KANSAS AND WESTERN MISSOURI. THE NEXT UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM TO AFFECT OUR AREA IS CURRENTLY OVER THE NORTHERLY PLAINS AND BEGINNING TO DIVE TOWARDS THE SOUTHEAST AROUND THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE THAT'S OVER THE FOUR CORNERS REGION OF THE U.S. THE SECOND UPPER LEVEL WAVE OF THIS SYSTEM IS OVER SOUTHERN CANADA. THIS WILL PLAY A ROLE OF DIGGING OUT A NICE SIZE TROUGH OVER THE OHIO RIVER VALLEY AND GREAT LAKES REGION LATER IN THE WEEK. THE FIRST UPPER LEVEL WAVE WILL BRING A GOOD CHANCE FOR SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP OVER OUR NORTHWESTERN COUNTIES TOMORROW AFTERNOON AND EVENTUALLY SPREAD INTO THE I-44 CORRIDOR EARLY EVENING AND CONTINUE INTO THE SOUTHEASTERN OZARKS LATER IN THE EVENING. MODERATELY STEEP LAPSE RATES AND MUCAPE ON THE ORDER A FEW THOUSAND JULES ALONG WITH A 500 MB FLOW OF 3O KNOTS AND AN INVERTED V UPPER AIR SOUNDING WILL GIVE THE RISK FOR A FEW ISOLATED STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS POSSIBLE OVER THE OZARKS REGION LATE TOMORROW AFTERNOON. THIS SETUP IS VERY SIMILAR TO THE SETUP THE AREA SAW LAST SATURDAY EVENING. THE MAIN THREAT WITH ANY OF THE STRONGER CONVECTION WILL BE DOWNBURST OR STRAIGHT LINE WINDS AND SOME SUB-SEVERE HAIL ALONG WITH LOCALIZED HEAVY RAINFALL. AFTER THE FIRST ROUND WITH THE FIRST WAVE...THE SECOND WAVE WILL CARVE OUT A NICE TROUGH BEGINNING LATE THURSDAY. THIS WILL HAVE BRING A DECENT COLD FRONT THROUGH THE REGION AND ANOTHER CHANCE FOR SCATTERED SHOWERS AND PERHAPS THUNDERSTORMS MAINLY OVER THE EASTERN OZARKS ON THURSDAY. THEN WE WILL SEE A NICE NORTHERLY FLOW THURSDAY NIGHT INTO FRIDAY AS THE TROUGH SETUPS UP TO OUR EAST. THIS WILL HELP BRING DOWN A BREATH OF FRESH AIR AND SOME BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES FOR A CHANGE THIS SUMMER. THE LATEST GUIDANCE CAME IN A FEW DEGREES COOLER THAN PREVIOUS RUNS AND CONTINUES TO SHOW A DECENT MID LEVEL AS WELL AS SURFACE LEVEL NORTHERLY FLOW WITH 850 MB COOLING DOWN TO AROUND 10-12C FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY. THIS WILL SPELL FOR THE COOLEST TEMPERATURES OVER THE EASTERN OZARKS WITH HIGHS AROUND 80 AND HIGHS IN THE MIDDLE 80S OVER SOUTHEAST KANSAS. IF WE SEE MORE WRAP AROUND CLOUD COVER ON FRIDAY AFTERNOON FROM THE TROUGH OUT EAST...WE MAY BE A FEW DEGREES COOLER THAN WHAT'S FORECASTED. THE COOLEST MORNING APPEARS TO BE SATURDAY MORNINGS WHERE THE EASTERN HALF OF THE AREA MAY SEE LOWS IN THE MIDDLE TO UPPER 50S. IT MIGHT ALMOST FEEL LIKE A HINT OF FALL AFTER THE SUMMER WE HAVE BEEN EXPERIENCING. THE TROUGH WILL EVENTUALLY LIFT OUT LATE IN THE WEEKEND WITH ANOTHER WEAK SHORTWAVE MOVING ACROSS THE MIDWEST SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY. HAVE INCLUDED SOME SLIGHT CHANCES OF RAIN WITH THIS SYSTEM PASSING BY BUT THINKING THE ATMOSPHERE MAY NOT RECOVER TOO MUCH IN THE WAY OF MOISTURE WITH THE PREVIOUS AIRMASS OVER THE WEEKEND. OTHERWISE LOOKING INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK... A SLIGHT WEST TO NORTHWEST FLOW AND SOME HEIGHT RISES AS WELL WILL MEAN TEMPERATURES WILL BE MODERATING BACK TO MORE SEASONABLE LEVELS BY EARLY NEXT WEEK. GRIFFIN && .AVIATION... FOR THE 18Z TAFS...EXPECTING VFR CONDITIONS THROUGH THE PERIOD. AREA WILL REMAIN IN NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT AND EXPECTING AN UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE TO PUSH IN FROM THE NORTHWEST TOWARDS THE END OF THE TAF CYCLE. WILL NEED TO MONITOR FOR CONVECTION POTENTIAL TOWARDS THE LAST FEW HOURS OF THIS VALID TAF. BETTER CHANCES WILL ARRIVE AFTER 18Z HOWEVER AND WILL LEAVE OUT OF THIS FORECAST FOR NOW. LINDENBERG && .SGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MO...NONE. KS...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO 328 PM CDT TUE AUG 7 2012 KSZ073-097-101-MOZ055>058-066>071-077>083-088>098-101>106-082030- 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- 328 PM CDT TUE AUG 7 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF THE MISSOURI OZARKS AND EXTREME SOUTHEAST KANSAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. WEATHER HAZARDS EXPECTED... LIMITED EXCESSIVE HEAT RISK. ELEVATED FIRE WEATHER RISK. DISCUSSION... AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING TEMPERATURES AND HEAT INDEX VALUES IN THE MID 90S TO AROUND 100 DEGREES ARE EXPECTED. LOW AFTERNOON HUMIDITY AND HOT TEMPERATURES ALONG WITH DROUGHT RELATED DORMANT AND DRY VEGETATION WILL LEAD TO AN ELEVATED FIRE DANGER TODAY...ESPECIALLY WEST OF MISSOURI HIGHWAY 65. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY NIGHT AS A COLD FRONT APPROACHES THE REGION. STRONG TO SEVERE STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS THE MAIN POTENTIAL RISK. ANOTHER FRONT MAY BRING ADDITIONAL ISOLATED STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TO EASTERN SECTIONS OF THE MISSOURI OZARKS ON THURSDAY. ADDITIONAL SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS MAY BE POSSIBLE LATE IN THE WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK BUT SEVERE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED. AN ELEVATED FIRE WEATHER RISK WILL EXIST WEDNESDAY AS WINDS INCREASE SOMEWHAT AHEAD OF THE APPROACHING FRONT. .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) GRIFFIN
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 wildfire. Local standard time, as filed.
A large and rapidly spreading brushfire consumed about 500 acres in western Greene County southwest of the Springfield metro area. No homes or structures were damaged with this fire.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Missouri in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Missouri, August 2012
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: 389370.