Isolated thunderstorms moved northward across southeast Missouri. These storms were on the eastern edge of an air mass characterized by much higher precipitable water values and stronger instability.
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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 PAH wrote it up.
Isolated thunderstorms moved northward across southeast Missouri. These storms were on the eastern edge of an air mass characterized by much higher precipitable water values and stronger instability. The combination of steep lapse rates and dry mid-level air supported the development of an isolated damaging microburst in Bollinger 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 Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 29, 5:07 PM CST, 18 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 607 PM CDT FRI MAY 29 2015 .SHORT TERM...(THIS EVENING THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT) ISSUED AT 132 PM CDT FRI MAY 29 2015 THE HRRR PICKS UP ON CONVECTION TO OUR WEST IF OVERDONE A TAD. IT BASICALLY MIGRATES SCATTERED CONVECTIVE ELEMENTS INTO OUR SEMO OZARK COUNTIES TONIGHT. IT DOS NOT MODEL ACCURATELY THE WIDELY SCATTERED ACTIVITY IN OUR EAST...BUT DOES SUGGEST SIMILAR TREND THERE INTO THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. OVER TIME...SYNOPTIC MODELING IS THE SAME...DRAWING FRONT IN AND THIS WEEKEND WITH PASSAGE AND HIGH POP EVENT. LACKING STRONG FORCING...IT APPEARS TO BE MAINLY A HEAVY RAIN THREAT...WITH PERHAPS PULSE MAINLY HEAT OF DAY STORMS BEARING WATCH ON THEIR INTENSITY. POPS PEAK ALONG/AHEAD OF PASSING BOUNDARY SATURDAY INTO SATURDAY NIGHT. ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE FRONT BEGINNING SUNDAY INTO SUNDAY NIGHT...POPS MAY LINGER BUT DRIER AIR STARTS TO WORK DOWN THE COLUMN. WE'LL SEE SOME DEW POINTS DROPPING BACK INTO THE 50S THEN AND EFFECTIVELY THIS WILL WORK TOWARD ENDING POPS FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST WITH TIME. SUMMER LIKE WARMTH/HUMIDITY 80S/60S CONTINUES UNTIL FROPA...AFTER WHICH THE MOVE BACK INTO THE 70S/50S COMMENCES SUNDAY-SUNDAY NIGHT. .LONG TERM...(SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY) ISSUED AT 153 PM CDT FRI MAY 29 2015 A WEAK UPPER-LEVEL FLOW PATTERN WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE LONG TERM...WHICH SHOULD BECOME MORE FREQUENT AS WE HEAD INTO THE SUMMER MONTHS. EARLY IN THE WEEK...WEAK TROUGHING OVER THE LOWER OHIO VALLEY WILL BRING SOMEWHAT COOLER AND DRIER CONDITIONS. BROAD RIDGING WILL FOLLOW IN THE WAKE OF THE TROUGH FOR MID TO LATE WEEK. THIS WILL RESULT IN A GRADUAL INCREASE IN WARMTH AND HUMIDITY. AS FAR AS THE SPECIFICS...MONDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NOW LOOK MAINLY DRY AND A LITTLE COOLER. THE MODELS HAVE TRENDED DRIER AND A BIT COOLER. POPS WILL BE REMOVED FOR MUCH OF THE AREA...BUT A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS WILL BE KEPT FOR PARTS OF WESTERN KENTUCKY. WITH THE COOLER AND DRIER AIR...INSTABILITY LOOKS TOO LIMITED FOR THUNDER. LINGERING CLOUDS SHOULD KEEP HIGHS IN THE 70S ON MONDAY. EVEN WITH LOTS OF SUN ON TUESDAY...HIGHS SHOULD GENERALLY BE AROUND 80 DEGREES. AS FOR OVERNIGHT LOWS...HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE GREAT LAKES WILL BRING DRIER AIR AND LIGHT WINDS...WHICH SHOULD ALLOW MOST PLACES TO FALL INTO THE 50S. WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...LOW LEVEL WINDS WILL VEER FROM THE EAST INTO THE SOUTH AS THE HIGHS RETREATS TO THE EAST COAST. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL SLOWLY CREEP UP. WITH THE INCREASING MOISTURE WILL COME A SMALL CHANCE OF DIURNALLY INDUCED SHOWERS AND STORMS...ESPECIALLY THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. HIGHS WILL INCH BACK INTO THE LOWER AND MID 80S...AND OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL BE IN THE 60S. && .AVIATION... ISSUED AT 607 PM CDT FRI MAY 29 2015 PRIOR TO THE EFFECTIVE ISSUANCE OF THE 00Z SATURDAY WFO PAH TAF FORECAST PACKAGE...A SMALL CLUSTER OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE NORTHWEST OF THE KCGI TAF SITE...SO DID NOT INCLUDE PRECIPITATION AT THE BEGINNING OF THE FORECAST. THE OVERALL CLUSTER OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MAY PERSIST BRIEFLY WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF A WEAK LOW LEVEL JET...SO ADDED A MENTION OF RAIN IN THE 03Z-07Z TIME FRAME AT KCGI. THE BULK OF CONVECTION SHOUSL HOLD OFF UNTIL TOMORROW AFTERNOON. ATTEMPTED TO KEEP VFR CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES FOR MOST OF THE TAF SITES IN PLACE PRIOR TO THE ONSET OF CONVECTION ON SATURDAY. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IL...NONE. MO...NONE. IN...NONE. KY...NONE. && AVIATION...SMITH
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 429 AM CDT FRI MAY 29 2015 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-301000- JEFFERSON-WAYNE IL-EDWARDS-WABASH-PERRY IL-FRANKLIN-HAMILTON- WHITE-JACKSON-WILLIAMSON-SALINE-GALLATIN-UNION IL-JOHNSON-POPE- HARDIN-ALEXANDER-PULASKI-MASSAC-GIBSON-PIKE-POSEY-VANDERBURGH- WARRICK-SPENCER-FULTON-HICKMAN-CARLISLE-BALLARD-MCCRACKEN-GRAVES- LIVINGSTON-MARSHALL-CALLOWAY-CRITTENDEN-LYON-TRIGG-CALDWELL- UNION KY-WEBSTER-HOPKINS-CHRISTIAN-HENDERSON-DAVIESS-MCLEAN- MUHLENBERG-TODD-PERRY MO-BOLLINGER-CAPE GIRARDEAU-WAYNE MO-CARTER- RIPLEY-BUTLER-STODDARD-SCOTT-MISSISSIPPI-NEW MADRID- 429 AM CDT FRI MAY 29 2015 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA...WESTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEAST MISSOURI. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED NON SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE BOTH TODAY AND TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BECOME LIKELY SATURDAY INTO SATURDAY NIGHT. A FEW STORMS COULD BE ON THE STRONG SIDE...BUT THE CHANCE FOR SEVERE STORMS REMAINS LOW. ISOLATED NON SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE MUCH OF NEXT WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.
The Paducah radar (KPAH), 116 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:25 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Extensive damage occurred within the town limits of Zalma. About two dozen trees were uprooted or snapped. At least one tree landed on a house, and another tree hit a vehicle.
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, May 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: 569271.