Strong Wind — Marion, Missouri

2023-07-01 · Marion, Missouri

Event narrative

A non-severe thunderstorm moved through Hannibal. Winds gusted up to 50 mph and blew down a large tree that was rotten inside. The tree fell onto an occupied camper located on the 1600 block of Montana Street. A person inside the camper was crushed by the fallen tree and was pronounced dead on the scene.

Wider weather episode

Even though an old outflow boundary was across southeast Missouri and the far southern portions of Illinois during the morning hours, the boundary dissipated, allowing 75+ dew points to surge north along the Mississippi River. As skies cleared the atmosphere was able to quickly destabilize. Surface based CAPEs were in excess of 3000 J/kg with 40kts of 0 to 6km bulk shear. This combined with a shortwave trough that moved eastward across the region, produced strong to severe storms. There were numerous reports of damaging winds and some reports of large hail. There were three fatalities due to fallen trees.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1125284. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.