A cluster of slow moving thunderstorms produced minor flash flooding.
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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.
A cluster of slow moving thunderstorms produced minor flash flooding.
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 22, 4:51 AM CST, 5 hours 24 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO 551 AM CDT SAT AUG 22 2015 .SHORT TERM...(Today and Sunday Night) Issued at 0345 AM CDT SAT AUG 22 2015 Scattered storms have developed across southeastern Kansas, northeastern Oklahoma, and the Missouri Ozarks early this morning as a warm front lifts to the north and a upper level short wave trough tracks east across Kansas and Oklahoma. These scattered storms will continue to track east across the area this morning as the warm front lifts to the north. The overall severe risk with this activity is low, as deep layer shear is not overly strong. Behind the front a warmer and more moist air mass will spread into the area today. Highs will warm into the upper 80s across southeastern Kansas and far western Missouri. Slightly cooler conditions will occur across central Missouri where highs in the lower 80s are expected. Heat index values in the middle 90s will occur across southeastern Kansas and far western Missouri this afternoon. Instability will also increase through the day with day time heating and as the warmer and more moist air mass spreads into the area. As the upper level disturbance currently across Kansas and Oklahoma spreads into the area later this morning into this afternoon additional scattered storms are expected to develop ahead of it. Deep layer shear will remain on the weaker side this afternoon, but with increasing instability a few strong storms will be possible this afternoon. Behind the upper level disturbance shortwave upper level ridging will build over the area with a much drier mid level air mass spreading into the area. This will bring an end to the scattered storm potential from west to east resulting in a dry period occurring until later this evening into tonight when a cold front approaches the area. The cold front will push south towards the area later this evening into tonight as an upper level low trough tracks across the northern Plains today, and closes into an upper level low as tracks into the Great Lakes region tonight. Additional storms will develop along and ahead of the front and will begin to push south into the area late this evening into the overnight hours. Deep layer shear will increase some this evening and tonight as the upper level system tracks to the east. The dry mid level air mass that will spread into the area this afternoon and evening will result in steep mid level lapse rates and an unstable air mass across the area. As a result the potential for severe storms will occur later this evening and tonight with damaging straight line winds the main risk especially with any line segments that develop. The steep lapse rates will also lead to the potential for penny to quarter size hail will with the stronger updrafts. Showers and thunderstorms will linger across the area mainly southern Missouri Sunday morning as the front tracks continues to track south through the area. A colder air mass will spread into the area behind the front as highs in the middle to upper 70s occur Sunday afternoon and lows drop into the lower to middle 50s Sunday night. .LONG TERM...(Monday through Friday) Issued at 0345 AM CDT SAT AUG 22 2015 The upper level trough will dig into the eastern U.S. and remain through much of next week as upper level ridging develops across the western U.S. This will leave the region in a northwest flow pattern a loft resulting in below normal temperatures through the week. Highs in the upper 70s to lower 80s will occur daily as lows drop into the 50s each night. Mainly dry weather will occur through much of the week. && .AVIATION...(For the 12Z TAFS through 12Z Sunday Morning) Issued at 0548 AM CDT SAT AUG 22 2015 Convection will continue to spread east across extreme southeast Kansas into western Missouri affecting the 3 TAF locations this morning as a shortwave slowly pushes east across the area. Expecting most of the activity to end by midday with subsidence and clearing behind this shortwave. Attention will then turn to cold front and additional convection late tonight. Generally expecting VFR conditions outside of convection and MVFR to potentially brief IFR conditions within convection. && .SGF WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... MO...NONE. KS...NONE. && SHORT TERM...Wise LONG TERM...Wise AVIATION...Lindenberg
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO 820 AM CDT SAT AUG 22 2015 KSZ073-097-101-MOZ055>058-066>071-077>083-088>098-101>106-231330- 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- 820 AM CDT SAT AUG 22 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF THE MISSOURI OZARKS AND EXTREME SOUTHEAST KANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. WEATHER HAZARDS EXPECTED... LIMITED HAIL RISK. ELEVATED THUNDERSTORM WIND DAMAGE RISK. SIGNIFICANT LIGHTNING RISK. LIMITED EXCESSIVE HEAT RISK. DISCUSSION... SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR THIS MORNING INTO THIS AFTERNOON...WITH STORMS ENDING FROM WEST TO EAST BY EARLY THIS EVENING. THE MAIN RISK WITH THESE STORMS WILL BE CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING STRIKES. A FEW STRONG STORMS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON. MORE WIDESPREAD THUNDERSTORMS ARE THEN EXPECTED LATE THIS EVENING INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS AS A STRONG COLD FRONT MOVES SOUTH THROUGH THE AREA. THERE WILL BE THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE STORMS WITH THIS ACTIVITY...WITH DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS AND HAIL TO THE SIZE OF QUARTERS THE MAIN RISKS. THE BEST SEVERE CHANCES WILL GENERALLY BE ALONG AND NORTH OF I-44 LATE THIS EVENING INTO THE EARLY OVERNIGHT HOURS. HEAT INDEX VALUES IN THE MIDDLE 90S ARE EXPECTED ACROSS PORTIONS OF EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN KANSAS AND FAR WESTERN MISSOURI. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. A FEW LINGERING STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE AREA ON SUNDAY BEFORE THE COLD FRONT PUSHES OFF TO THE SOUTH. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THROUGH TONIGHT. && MORE DETAILED INFORMATION CAN BE ACCESSED AT: HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SGF/SITREP(ALL LOWERCASE) THIS PRODUCT IN GRAPHICAL FORMAT...ALONG WITH OTHER WEATHER... HYDROLOGICAL AND CLIMATE INFORMATION...AT HTTP://WWW.WEATHER.GOV/SGF(ALL LOWERCASE)
The Springfield radar (KSGF), 93 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:15 UTC.
3 flash flood, 3 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
Flash flooding was reported along Highway 249 near Joplin and the road was closed. There were several water rescues conducted in the city of Joplin.
There was a rainfall report of 3.46 inches since midnight and 3.17 inches in two hours.
East Rudondo Drive was flooded and closed.
There was a rainfall report of 3.70 inches in northeast Joplin.
There was a rainfall report of 4.42 inches since midnight at the Spring River Gauge in Carthage.
Several roads and drainage basins were flooded around the Holiday Inn Conference Center on the south side of Joplin.|In a non flooded drainage culvert, a 50 year old Joplin man drowned while jumping into the ditch to help two children who were playing in the water. This indirect fatality occurred near the 900 block of East 5th Street just north of Ewert Park.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flash Flood, Jasper | 2015-08-22 | 50 | Male | In Water | Indirect |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Missouri in 2015Every state in 2015This day in weather historyWarnings in Missouri, August 2015
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: 590040, 590043, 590042, 590045, 590046, 590049.