A slowing moving cold front brought several rounds of showers and thunderstorms which led to heavy rainfall and minor flooding across the Missouri Ozarks.
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 SGF wrote it up.
A slowing moving cold front brought several rounds of showers and thunderstorms which led to heavy rainfall and minor flooding across the Missouri Ozarks.
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 Dec 13, 11:42 AM CST, 57 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service SPRINGFIELD MO
1142 AM CST SUN DEC 13 2015
...Update to Aviation for 18Z Tafs...
.SHORT TERM...(Today and Tonight)
It was a rainy night over extreme southeast Kansas and the
Missouri Ozarks. A storm system centered over the High Plains was
forcing Gulf moisture and warmth into the region, leading to large
clusters of convection.
Decent rainfall amounts have already fallen over southwest
Missouri where radar estimates and ground measurements were
showing well over an inch in some spots.
This area to the southwest of Springfield will continue to receive
the heaviest rainfall through the morning hours as convection
develops over eastern Oklahoma, and tracks to the north northeast
with time.
Clusters of showers and isolated thunderstorms will persist
through the day and end from west to east later this evening and
overnight.
Storm total rainfall amounts will range from 1.5 to 2.75 inches.
Flooding is likely in southwest Missouri due to wet soil
conditions and the lack of seasonal vegetation.
We also need to discuss the Wind Advisory that was posted for this
morning. A surface low will track across the western edge of the
Ozarks Region, causing wind speeds to potentially exceed 30 mph at
times. Therefore this advisory will remain in effect until noon
today.
The Flood Watch remains in effect through this evening.
.LONG TERM...(Monday through Saturday)
A Pacific air mass will cool temperatures down into the 50s on
Monday with lows in the 30s. This air mass will also be drier,
therefore we aren't expecting much precipitation during the work
week.
Despite the drier air mass, another storm system will approach
from the west on Tuesday. This system will be moisture starved and
only slight chances for rain exist. Most locations are expected to
remain dry.
Tuesday's system will bring a reinforcing shot of Pacific air,
cooling temperatures back into the 40s on an afternoon basis. We
could experience lows in the 20s each night from Wednesday through
Saturday. No precipitation is expected for the entire Wednesday
through Saturday time frame.
Looking into the extended forecast, another warm up is expected,
with another storm system brewing out west. This would be within
the 8 to 10 day forecast period.
&&
.AVIATION...(For the 18Z TAFS through 18Z Monday Afternoon)
Issued at 1134 AM CST SUN DEC 13 2015
For the KSGF, KJLN, and KBBG Tafs: Periods of light to moderate
rain will continue to spread across the area through this
afternoon into early this evening, as a slow moving storm system
approaches the region. Light rain and or drizzle will then likely
occur this evening and overnight as the system passes over the
area, with the light rain/drizzle ending from west to east early
Monday morning.
MVFR ceilings can be expected through the Taf period with MVFR
visibilities in the heavy showers. IFR ceilings will be possible
this evening right behind a cold frontal passage for a short
period.
Gusty south to southeasterly winds will occur early this
afternoon, becoming more southwesterly tonight into Monday morning
remaining on the gusty side.
&&
.SGF Watches/Warnings/Advisories...
MO...Flood Watch until 9 PM CST this evening for MOZ077-088>096-
101>105.
KS...Flood Watch until 9 PM CST this evening for KSZ101.
&&
SHORT TERM...Cramer
LONG TERM...Cramer
AVIATION...WiseHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO 1020 AM CST SUN DEC 13 2015 KSZ073-097-101-MOZ055>058-066>071-077>083-088>098-101>106-141630- 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- 1020 AM CST SUN DEC 13 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF THE MISSOURI OZARKS AND EXTREME SOUTHEAST KANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. WEATHER HAZARDS EXPECTED... ELEVATED FLOODING RISK. LIMITED NON THUNDERSTORM WIND RISK. DISCUSSION... LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD ACROSS THE REGION TODAY INTO THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. MINOR FLOODING WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER SOUTHWESTERN MISSOURI AND EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN KANSAS. STORM TOTAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS FROM YESTERDAY EVENING THROUGH THIS EVENING WILL RANGE FROM 1 TO 3 INCHES. SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL REMAIN BREEZY INTO EARLY THIS AFTERNOON... WITH SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS IN THE 15 TO 20 MPH RANGE AND GUSTS BETWEEN 30 AND 40 MPH. WIND SPEEDS WILL DECREASE THIS AFTERNOON AS THE WIND DIRECTION SHIFTS TO THE SOUTHWEST. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .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) WISE
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
19 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Highway K was closed in both directions just south of Highway V near Little Drywood Creek.
The Little Sugar Creek southeast of Pineville exceeded flood stage.
The outer road along I-49 was closed due to flooding of the North Fork Spring River.
State Highway 126 was closed due to flooding of the North Fork Spring River.
State Highway Z at the Finley Creek was closed due to flooding.
State Highway M at the Glendale Fork was closed due to flooding.
State Highway FF was closed at Hunter Creek due to flooding.
State Highway Y at Cowskin Creek was closed due to flooding.
State Highway U at Bryant Creek was closed due to flooding.
Water was over County Road 1000 on the Jasper and Lawrence County line near Center Creek.
State Highway AB at Wolf Creek was closed due to flooding.
Route Z at Elk Creek was closed due to flooding.
State Highway T was closed at Possum Walk Creek due to flooding.
State Highway EE was closed at the North Fork River due to flooding.
State Highway 95 was closed at Bryant Creek due to flooding.
State Highway C was flooded at Flat Creek.
Route BB near the Big Piney River was closed due to flooding.
Route KK at Dry Wood Creek was closed due to flooding.
A man drowned while attempting to cross a low water crossing on Farm Road SE 80 approximately two miles south of the community of Boston, Missouri. This area is a tributary of the North Fork of the Spring River. Time was estimated.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flood, Barton | 2015-12-14 | 46 | Male | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Direct |
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, December 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: 604700, 604701, 604702, 604704, 604705, 604706, 604708, 604709, 604710, 604712, 604713, 604715, 604716, 604718, 604719, 604720, 604721, 604723, 616005.