Early morning, the surface low was located just north of St. Louis, Missouri, lifting to the NNE as it rapidly deepened.
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 PAH wrote it up.
Early morning, the surface low was located just north of St. Louis, Missouri, lifting to the NNE as it rapidly deepened. For Southeast Missouri, early morning effective bulk shear was around 60 kts, with a very high 25-30 kts of 0-1 km shear, while SRHs were around 200 m2/s2. MLCAPE was 1000-1500 J/kg, and mid-level lapse rates were 6.5 C/km. A 70-90 kt mid-level jet was west of the Quad State. A strong capping inversion suppressed storm activity in the evening, but the strong lift and upper level diffluence won out early morning. Two lines of storms developed after midnight in Southeast Missouri. The first had its southern end move through Perry County from 0100-0230CST. The latter was a very potent thunderstorm line racing eastward early morning April 2nd. Weaker thunderstorm activity occurred further south in the Ozark Foothills and near the bootheel. This line continued throughout the day all the way to West Virginia, being designated a derecho. For Southeast Missouri, 1 brief EF-0 tornado occurred west of Cape Girardeau, which transitioned into a microburst that progressed through residential areas in western Cape Girardeau city. Other instances of straight-line wind damage occurred in Cape Girardeau, Scott, and Stoddard Counties. According to county EMA, Cape Girardeau County had a total of 2 barns and 12 houses with reported damage.
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 Apr 2, 2:46 AM CST, 29 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Paducah KY 346 AM CDT Tue Apr 2 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - Severe storms continue this morning, mainly from northern portions of SEMO through S Illinois to SW Indiana, with damaging winds, hail and a few spin-up tornadoes possible. - Additional storm development remains possible from mid morning through early afternoon, mainly east of the Mississippi River, as the cold front passes. Wind gusts of 30-40 mph are possible Tuesday and Wednesday even outside of thunderstorm activity. - Temperatures will be about 10 degrees below normal by the middle of the week in the 50s/30s. Frost and possibly freeze headlines are possible, with the best chance Friday night. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 342 AM CDT Tue Apr 2 2024 A surface low near or just north of St. Louis MO this morning is expected to lift north-northeastward this morning as it reaches southern Lake Michigan this afternoon. The low is expected to rapidly deepen as a deep upper-level low drops south from the northern Plains. As the low intensifies, a cold front will pass through the CWA from west to east, reaching the Mississippi River by or around 17Z. Hi-Res guidance suggest additional development will be possible by early afternoon across portions of western KY, southern IL into southwest IN. It does look like there may be enough of a gap between this mornings convection and the afternoon frontal passage to bring a second round of strong to severe storms. Dewpoints ahead of the cold front are expected to remain in the mid 60s, which is plenty moist for severe weather. Around 1500 J/kg of instability is forecast ahead of the front with wind shear values around 40 to 50 kts! This combination, especially with any breaks in the cloud cover, will lead to an increased risk for organized severe weather from western KY to southern IL and points east. All modes of severe weather are possible with shear vectors oriented orthogonal to the cold front. 0-3 km shear vectors are also around 30-40 kts with a good portion of that perpendicular to the line of storms again leading to bowing along the line and spin-ups. Helicity is is progged to be around 200-300 m2/s2, indicating a good possibility of rotating updrafts/supercells! All this has led to SPC issuing an enhanced risk of severe weather for western KY into southwest IN, where the the aforementioned ingredients overlap. Very heavy downpours will be possible with at least an isolated threat of flash flooding. Outside of thunderstorms, winds are expected to remain fairly gusty out of the south this morning before shifting to the west then northwest this afternoon and tonight. Gusts as high as 25 to 30 mph will be possible today before possibly gusting as high as 40 mph on Wednesday on cold air advection. The broad upper-level low will be centered over Lake Michigan Wednesday as vort lobes rotate through the CWA. The combination of increased moisture, forcing and weak instability will result in another round of showers and some thunderstorms by Wednesday afternoon. This will be a much cooler system with high temperatures only in the 40s and low 50s! Again, wind gusts throughout the day could be as high as 40 mph, even outside of any thunderstorm activity. The troughing pattern will remain in place across the area through Thursday night, keeping much cooler temperatures in place along with a few showers and increased cloud cover. It may be cold enough that a few wet snow flakes may mix in over southwest IN late Wednesday night into early Thursday morning. No real impacts expected from that. If there is any clearing, there could be some frost or possibly a freeze Thursday night and especially Friday night. Brief ridging will slide through the area Friday night into through Saturday night bringing a break in the cloud cover and also in the precipitation chances. Temperatures will only warm to the upper 50s and low 60s. Looking toward the Sunday/Monday time period the next low is expected to shift across the central Plains as a frontal boundary shifts through the CWA from west to east. The frontal passage looks to be during the day Sunday into Sunday evening, leading to the next chance for rain across the CWA. There are significant model differences in exactly where the low treks after Sunday night, so there continues to be some question as to how much cloud cover lingers for the eclipse on Monday. The latest EC would suggest clearing across a good portion of the CWA; however, the GFS is farther south and more progressive with the low...bringing more cloud cover. The next few model runs will help to get a better handle on the weather for early next week! && .AVIATION /00Z TAFS THROUGH 00Z WEDNESDAY/... Issued at 647 PM CDT Mon Apr 1 2024 MVFR ceilings will develop northward across the region this evening, then scattered SHRA/TSRA will move eastward across the region in the overnight to early morning hours. Brief IFR visibilities and lower MVFR ceilings will be possible as the convection passes. There is a possibility of very strong winds (>50kts) with the storms. Ceilings will climb to VFR levels by midday over most of the region. South winds will gust 15-20kts this evening, and then increase to 20-25kts overnight into the morning. As a cold front approaches and passes, west southwest winds will gust 20-30kts at times. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IL...None. MO...None. IN...None. KY...None. &&
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Paducah KY
126 AM CDT Tue Apr 2 2024
MOZ076-020645-
Perry MO-
126 AM CDT Tue Apr 2 2024
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL IMPACT NORTHWESTERN PERRY COUNTY
THROUGH 145 AM CDT...
At 126 AM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking a strong thunderstorm over
Park Hills, or over Desloge, moving southeast at 65 mph.
HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 50 mph and penny size hail.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects. Minor hail damage to vegetation is
possible.
This storm will remain over mainly rural areas of northwestern Perry
County.
This includes Interstate 55 between Mile Markers 136 and 139.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.
&&
LAT...LON 3788 8985 3760 9013 3761 9015 3764 9015
3768 9010 3782 9000 3787 8994 3787 8990
3788 8988
TIME...MOT...LOC 0626Z 301DEG 56KT 3785 9048
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.75 IN
MAX WIND GUST...50 MPHSpecial Weather Statement
National Weather Service Paducah KY
346 AM CDT Tue Apr 2 2024
ILZ075>077-081>083-020930-
White IL-Edwards IL-Franklin IL-Hamilton IL-Jefferson IL-Wayne IL-
346 AM CDT Tue Apr 2 2024
...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL IMPACT NORTHWESTERN WHITE...WAYNE...
SOUTHEASTERN JEFFERSON...NORTHWESTERN EDWARDS...NORTHERN HAMILTON AND
NORTHEASTERN FRANKLIN COUNTIES THROUGH 430 AM CDT...
At 346 AM CDT, Doppler radar was tracking strong thunderstorms along
a line extending from near Clay City to Benton. Movement was east at
40 mph.
HAZARD...Wind gusts up to 50 mph and half inch hail.
SOURCE...Radar indicated.
IMPACT...Gusty winds could knock down tree limbs and blow around
unsecured objects. Minor hail damage to vegetation is
possible.
Locations impacted include...
Fairfield, Mcleansboro, Wayne City, Cisne, Dahlgren, Jeffersonville,
Sims, Mill Shoals, Springerton, Mount Erie, Golden Gate, and Belle
Prairie City.
This includes Interstate 64 in Illinois between Mile Markers 92 and
114.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
If outdoors, consider seeking shelter inside a building.
A Tornado Watch remains in effect until 800 AM CDT for south central
and southeastern Illinois.
&&
LAT...LON 3860 8815 3857 8815 3857 8801 3808 8844
3808 8885 3861 8841
TIME...MOT...LOC 0846Z 255DEG 33KT 3863 8838 3800 8890
MAX HAIL SIZE...0.50 IN
MAX WIND GUST...50 MPH
DWThe Paducah radar (KPAH), 89 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 09:02 UTC.
5 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A thunderstorm line moving eastward across northern Stoddard County produced a downburst that destroyed a barn and an irrigation system northeast of Bell City.
A brief EF-0 tornado uprooted a few trees and downed several large tree limbs along County Rd 319 in central Cape Girardeau County during the early morning hours. The tornadic circulation quickly diminished as the storm moved east, but continued to produce sporadic straight line wind damage as it moved east-southeast into the west side of Cape Girardeau. Peak winds were estimated at 80 mph.
Downburst winds from a line of thunderstorms moving eastward brought multiple trees down onto powerlines.
A microburst with estimated peak winds of 85 mph caused sporadic wind damage on the west side of Cape Girardeau, MO, during the early morning hours of April 2, 2024. Dozens of trees were uprooted or suffered damage to large tree limbs. A few homes also had shingle, siding, or facia damage. One home on W Highland Dr had more than half of the roof removed while a home on Woodbine Pl suffered roof damage after a tree fell on it. The microburst started just east of the path of an EF-0 tornado along County Road 318. Crossing over Interstate 55, damage continued into the west side of Cape Girardeau. The microburst was about 3.25 miles long and about 400 yards in width for the main damage swath, with isolated tree damage to the north.
A line of thunderstorms downed multiple trees and power lines in Benton. As the storms continued eastward, trees were uprooted and power lines downed on MO-333 near the quarry and Sand Prairie Conservation Area.
ASOS site at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Missouri in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Missouri, 2024Warnings in Missouri, April 2024
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: 1173059, 1173083, 1173268, 1173271, 1173082, 1173062.