A frontal boundary across southernmost portions of Missouri and Kentucky became a focal point for developing afternoon thunderstorms on the 26th, with progression slowly expanding northward. One of these storms just south of Cairo, Illinois in Mississippi County, Missouri produced a brief landspout tornado with multiple reports submitted with pictures.
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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.
A frontal boundary across southernmost portions of Missouri and Kentucky became a focal point for developing afternoon thunderstorms on the 26th, with progression slowly expanding northward. One of these storms just south of Cairo, Illinois in Mississippi County, Missouri produced a brief landspout tornado with multiple reports submitted with pictures. MLCAPE was 2000 J/kg while shear and helicity were very limited.
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 Jul 26, 11:10 AM CST, 1 hour 17 minutes earlier. Its key messages:
Area Forecast Discussion...UPDATED National Weather Service Paducah KY 1210 PM CDT Fri Jul 26 2024 .KEY MESSAGES... - A daily chance of showers and storms for all or a portion of the region will continue through at least next Friday. However, the Evansville Tri State may stay dry through Saturday. - Below normal high temperatures in the middle and upper 80s will continue through Sunday and possibly into Monday. - Temperatures and humidity levels will trend upward through the work week, with head index readings 100-105 possible Tuesday through next Friday. The pattern may also be more conducive for heavy rainfall and flash flooding. && .DISCUSSION... Issued at 254 AM CDT Fri Jul 26 2024 Surface high pressure will finally bring some dry air into the northeast half of the region today. This will limit scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms to the southwest half of the region. A weak upper low currently over Arkansas will begin to lift north late today and tonight. This could help keep some convection going into the evening and then again late tonight, mainly over southeast Missouri. The weekend is trending wetter for the entire Quad State as the upper low lifts north and then east across the region. Coverage will be greatest over southeast Missouri Saturday and then east of the Mississippi Saturday night and Sunday. There will be some southwest flow aloft Sunday, but the shear will still be rather weak. A stray strong storm with gusty winds cannot be ruled out, but the primary concerns through the weekend will continue to be locally heavy rainfall and lightning. The strong upper ridge will build over the Plains and Rockies Monday through Wednesday. This will result in a dirty northwest flow over Quad State for the entire work week. The GFS and ECMWF ensembles continue to indicate highly anomalous low-level moisture over the Quad State through the work week, which will either contribute to extreme heat and humidity, or support a parade of MCSs with a heavy rainfall and flash flooding threat. In the absence of clouds and precipitation, high temperatures will max out in the middle 90s Wednesday and Thursday. With dewpoints in the middle 70s, heat indices will climb up near 105 degrees both days. A Heat Advisory may be needed. There are signs by next Friday that an upper trough may settle over the Quad State as the upper high builds farther to the west. This could bring an end to the heat and humidity and MCS potential. && .AVIATION /18Z TAFS THROUGH 18Z SATURDAY/... Issued at 1210 PM CDT Fri Jul 26 2024 Convection will be primary operational hazard today. Expecting storms to become more numerous over SEMO and WKY possibly spreading a little further north into SIL and SWIN over the next several hours. Storms will be slow moving so if they find a terminal they may sit for a while. High clouds didn't dissuade fog last night and likely won't again tonight as low level moisture continues to increase. Once fog mixes out prevailing VFR conditions are expected before showers and storms potentially increase once again. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... IL...None. MO...None. IN...None. KY...None. && DISCUSSION...JGG AVIATION...DRS
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Paducah KY 311 AM CDT Fri Jul 26 2024 ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087- 100-107>112-114-271000- Jefferson-Wayne IL-Edwards-Wabash-Perry IL-Franklin-Hamilton- White-Jackson-Williamson-Saline-Gallatin-Union-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- 311 AM CDT Fri Jul 26 2024 /411 AM EDT Fri Jul 26 2024/ This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for portions of southern Illinois, southwest Indiana, western Kentucky, and southeast Missouri. .DAY ONE...Today and Tonight Scattered to numerous thunderstorms are expected today generally to the south of a line from Perryville Missouri to Calhoun Kentucky. Coverage should be greatest in the afternoon. Locally heavy rainfall, gusty winds, and lightning will be the primary concerns. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday through Thursday Scattered to numerous thunderstorms are expected mainly over southeast Missouri Saturday and east of the Mississippi Saturday night into Sunday. Locally heavy rainfall, gusty winds, and lightning will be the primary concerns. Daily chances of thunderstorms Monday through Thursday will have an enhanced potential for heavy rainfall and flash flooding. Lightning and gusty winds can also be expected. Afternoon heat index values will climb into the 100 to 105 degree range throughout the Quad State Tuesday through Thursday. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter activation is not anticipated. DRS
The Paducah radar (KPAH), 38 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:24 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Multiple photos were reported of a landspout tornado on the southwest side of Cairo near the Mississippi River which formed near the intersection of a small cell and an outflow boundary. No damage was reported with this landspout.
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, July 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: 1203019.