Alert archive / Illinois / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 31, NWS Lincoln, IL

May 16, 1986Champaign County, Piatt County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 16, 1986, 5:54 PM CDT for Champaign County, Piatt County, Illinois. It was in force for 51 min. 1 report 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, 5:54 PM CDT (22:54 UTC)
Expired: May 16, 1986, 6:45 PM CDT
In force: 51 min
Issued by: NWS Lincoln, IL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Champaign County, IL, Piatt 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 16, 6:15 PM CDT	Tornado F1	Piatt, 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, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 122 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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 162254
SVRSPI
ILC147-019-162345-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 645 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES OF

EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS...PIATT AND NORTHERN CHAMPAIGN

AT 547 PM CDT A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 17 MILES NORTHEAST
OF DECATUR ..NEAR CISCO ILLINOIS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.
THREE QUARTER INCH HAIL WAS REPORTED NEAR CISCO ILLINOIS.

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 WEATHER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

 ATTN ISP DIST..1p0
 HUGHES

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 15, 7:48 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Coles	27 min
May 15, 8:10 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Edgar	35 min
May 15, 8:43 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Edgar	32 min
May 16, 4:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Macoupin, Morgan	59 min
May 16, 5:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Macon, Sangamon	56 min
May 16, 5:29 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Macon, Sangamon	31 min
May 16, 6:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	DeWitt, Macon	56 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Illinois, 1986 Every 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.