Alert archive / Illinois / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 30, NWS Lincoln, IL

May 16, 1986Macon County, Sangamon County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 16, 1986, 5:09 PM CDT for Macon County, Sangamon County, Illinois. It was in force for 56 min. 3 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
May 16, 1986, 5:09 PM CDT (22:09 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 1986, 6:05 PM CDT
In force
56 min
Issued by
NWS Lincoln, IL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Macon County, IL, Sangamon County, IL

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 16, 5:20 PM CDTTornado F0Macon, IL
May 16, 5:20 PM CDTTornado F0Sangamon, IL
May 16, 5:25 PM CDTTornado F0Sangamon, IL

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Peoria Regional, IL (KPIA), launched 12:00Z, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 99 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Peoria Regional, IL at 12:00Z on 1986-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Peoria Regional, IL at 12:00Z on 1986-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 33 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
812 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
33 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
73 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KSPI 162209
SVRSPI
ILC167-115-162305-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD IL
509 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 605 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES OF

CENTRAL ILLINOIS...SANGAMON AND MACON

AT 502PM, SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED BY RADAR 12 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF SPRINGFIELD ILLINOIS AND NEAR DECATUR ILLINOIS. THESE
THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

PEA TO MARBLE SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED AT DECATUR ILLINOIS SHORTLY
BEFORE 500 PM CDT.

REMEMBER..A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCES DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS
OF 60 MPH...LARGE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING AND HEAVY RAINS THAT CAN
QUICKLY FLOOD A LOW LYING AREA.

IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES...YOU SHOULD GO TO A SAFE PLACE.
ASK THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY TO RELAY YOUR REPORT OF
SEVERE WEATAHER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

 ATTN ISP DIST..9 AND 10
 HUGHES

The office that day

Everything else NWS Lincoln, IL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 7:48 PM CDTTornado WarningILXColes27 min
May 15, 8:10 PM CDTTornado WarningILXEdgar35 min
May 15, 8:43 PM CDTTornado WarningILXEdgar32 min
May 16, 4:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMacoupin, Morgan59 min
May 16, 5:29 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMacon, Sangamon31 min
May 16, 5:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXChampaign, Piatt51 min
May 16, 6:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXDeWitt, Macon56 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Illinois, 1986Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1986

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.