Winter Weather in Missouri, December 22, 2022

Name: Winter Weather in Missouri, December 22, 2022
Start: 2022-12-22T14:00
End: 2022-12-22T19:00
Location: Missouri

December 22, 2022 · NWS MEG · 2 events in 2 counties and zones

A powerful arctic front swept through the Mid-South during the afternoon and evening on December 22nd. Temperatures dropped as much as 20 degrees in the first hour after the frontal passage.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 3
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS MEG wrote it up.

A powerful arctic front swept through the Mid-South during the afternoon and evening on December 22nd. Temperatures dropped as much as 20 degrees in the first hour after the frontal passage. As temperatures plummeted rain changed to sleet and snow and quickly accumulated on area roads. A flash freeze occurred which resulted in very hazardous driving across the Missouri Bootheel with numerous accidents.

What forecasters said that day

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 Memphis, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 21, 5:28 PM CST, 20 hours 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 21, 5:28 PM CST, 20 hours 32 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 21, 4:31 PM CST, 21 hours 29 minutes before

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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.

Winter Weather, Dunklin

When: December 22, 2:00 PM CST to 6:00 PM CST
Where: Dunklin forecast zone
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 36.106, -90.166 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Two to three inches of snow fell across the county.

Winter Weather, Pemiscot

When: December 22, 3:00 PM CST to 7:00 PM CST
Where: Pemiscot forecast zone
Deaths: 0 direct, 1 indirect
Injuries: 0 direct, 3 indirect
Reported by: Public
Coordinates: 36.211, -89.785 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Two to three inches of snow fell across the county.

The people who died

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
Winter Weather, Pemiscot	2022-12-22	66	Male	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Indirect

What these are

Winter Weather: Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Missouri in 2022 Every state in 2022 This day in weather history Warnings in Missouri, December 2022

Sources

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1072968, 1072970.