MID-MO'S FIRST TORNADO EMERGENCY
May 22nd, 2019 is a date that will always be remembered by mid-Missourians. Just before midnight, an EF-3 tornado struck our capital city.
Kevin Deitsch, the Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the St. Louis National Weather Service office, was a part of the team that issued the office’s first ever Tornado Emergency for the town of Jefferson City that night.
“Tornado emergencies are a big deal. We have to hit a lot of criteria to issue that big, big product," Deitsch says. "It’s kind of our main product that we can issue that sounds all the bells and whistles.”
And it did. Tornado sirens went off twice in Cole County. That team, along with the KOMU 8 First Alert Weather Team, were able to give the citizens of Jefferson City over 30 minutes to take shelter.
In fact, at 11:01 p.m. KOMU 8 First Alert Chief Meteorologist Kenton Gewecke first mentioned a tornado in Eldon was heading toward Jefferson City. Gewecke's alert came five minutes before the tornado warning for Cole County was issued by the National Weather Service. The KOMU 8 First Alert weather team gave Jefferson City residents nearly 45 minutes notice and was with them every step of the way.
Thanks to these precautions, no one’s life was taken from severe weather in Jefferson City, and we think of this night as a success story.
REAL-LIFE STORM MODE EVENTS
Now, if you recall, the weather professionals across the Midwest were expecting a night full of severe weather on that Wednesday. The Storm Prediction Center put parts of Missouri under a moderate risk and the KOMU 8 First Alert Weather Team was in a Storm Mode 4 on a 0-5 scale, stating a life-threatening situation was possible including the chance for long-track tornadoes.
However, sometimes severe weather events can overachieve. Just 13 months ago, also in the middle of the night, Nashville, Tennessee was devastated by an EF-3 tornado, a similar intensity to the one mid-Missouri saw in 2019. But, central Tennessee was only under a "slight risk" that day, the equivalent of a KOMU 8 Storm Mode 2. Nashville citizens were given less than a 20 minute warning before the tornado barreled down in the northern part of the city, and unfortunately, 5 people lost their lives that night.
STAY WEATHER AWARE ON STORM MODE DAYS
Now, we cannot prevent these natural disasters from happening. But, we CAN prepare you. Remember, the KOMU 8 First Alert weather team is never here to scare you; our job is to prepare you. As we’ve seen in Mid-MO, weather can change pretty quickly, so it’s important to stay updated with any changes.
“For the viewers at home, just pay attention to the latest forecast," says Deitsch. "Anytime there’s a threat of severe weather, we’re going to be constantly updating folks on what that might look like, the timing, and what the threats are. And that can change hour-by-hour, so I encourage people to stay up-to-date throughout the day on severe weather days.”
Moral of this story: Take EVERY severe weather threat seriously. Sometimes a Storm Mode 1 is all it takes for a strong storm to move through a populated area. The KOMU 8 First Alert Weather Team is here to keep you safe, but you’ll need to meet us halfway so that we can walk away with another success story.
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April 06, 2021 at 06:00AM
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KOMU 8 Storm Mode in action - KOMU 8
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