On May 16th, tragedy struck the city of St. Louis as a strong, EF-3 tornado pushed through the area.
By John Kemper
Watching the tornado form in real time amid live coverage and custom alerting from the BAMWX team was harrowing to watch unfold across such a highly populated area. However, the feeling of distress only grew when it was discovered the outdoor tornado sirens failed to sound during the event – and 5 people lost their lives.
Well before the event, tornado watches were issued for the area due to an environment highly favorable for supercell and tornado development. Prior to the development of the storm that would impact the Saint Louis area, BAMWX Meteorologists issued a variety of custom made products, highlighting hazards that could potentially impact the city and the timing of the storms. When the storms finally fired, the BAMWX team began issuing nowcasts for the main cells with the greatest tornado concern, and what we call custom “BAM Alerts”.
Issuing these alerts are at the discretion of BAMWX meteorologists on staff, and designed to supplement the national weather service alerts. Often, these alerts are issued well ahead of when a local weather forecast office (NWS WFO) will issue them, allowing clients to be even more prepared and ready to keep their family, business, and community safe. In this instance, the BAM alert was issued 15 minutes ahead of the first official tornado warning from the NWS.
“Michael and I were live on social media breaking down the event as it was happening,” BAMWX Chief Marketing Officer Bret Walts said. “We were surprised how long it took the tornado warning to be issued by the NWS given the radar signature and environment in place.”
Despite these efforts, the tornado killed 5 people, with the damage taking its toll on North St. Louis. Following the discovery of the tornado siren failure, a city employee was placed on leave and then dismissed which began a national discussion of the process.
As residents continue to pick up the pieces from the recent tornado that struck the north side of St. Louis, a growing anger and need for answers is felt among many in the community. In 2025, with the level of technology available, this event demonstrates a failure of preparation, action and mitigation when it comes to these types of events.
The loss of life and damage is tragic, unfortunate and unacceptable and there are some hard truths we need to face:
- Society and government have allowed weather related preparation and action to become too lax. As a society we have become indifferent to the threats severe weather poses. This was a wake up call. There is no excuse for a button not to be pressed to sound outdoor warning sirens.
- Tornado Sirens cannot be a relied on method to receive alerts. Watching the TV cannot be the only way you receive alerts. Waiting for the Weather Radio to go off cannot be the only way you receive alerts (this has become greatly apparent with the numerous outages this spring). Tower maintenance and failures can happen, TV can go out when the storm hits, and the command and control surrounding the tornado sirens and who has the authority to do it… can be mirky at best. In addition, the standards (or lack thereof) of when sirens are sounded across the country are confusing and inconsistent
- While the National Weather Service endeavors to provide up to date alerting as quickly as possible, having an extra layer of protection is now more essential than ever. Recent events in St. Louis and elsewhere put this FRONT AND CENTER and the supplementation of BAM Alerts can and will save your life!
Picture from the St. Louis arch of the rain wrapped tornado. - From the timing of the warning issuance to the implementation of the emergency response plan in St. Louis, these types of unfortunate events highlight the overarching problem we have with the system. While it might take months or years to change this system, you can take control of your own safety and the safety of those you support now. With Clarity by BAMWX we are supporting you and the people that might depend on you. BAMWX has a solution for every person, every organization, every faction of government… everyone.
“It is imperative to recognize that current scientific knowledge and technological capabilities are sufficient to significantly extend tornado warning lead times,” CEO Michael Clark said. “The notion that achieving an increase from 11 to 26 minutes is unattainable reflects an outdated mindset that must be challenged. Our team possesses the expertise, tools, and determination to demonstrate and implement this advancement. The National Weather Service (NWS), while foundational, has lagged behind by a decade or more in modernizing its warning processes.”
BAMWX has designed the Clarity platform to keep you prepared with alerts for your specific location. BAMWX meteorologists can issue custom alerts for your area at our own discretion, and we are equipped 24/7 with increased staffing for these types of scenarios. Clarity’s 24/7 chat feature allows you to reach out and talk to a meteorologist, getting a response within 2 minutes. At the end of the day, a strength of BAMWX is that we consistently provide a team effort through and through. The teamwork and collaboration that is practiced allows our team to be more accurate and more efficient than any other forecast service available. We have a team that’s goal is to keep YOU safe. Period.
Take a moment today to sign up or inquire about something that can keep you prepared when dangerous weather arrives! Take control of your response to the weather at BAMWX.com/claritypackages.
Listen to a full analysis of the situation from CEO Michael Clark here:
