Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Chicago, IL

May 17, 1986Cook County, Lake County, McHenry County, Illinois

NWS Chicago, IL issued this tornado warning at May 17, 1986, 3:38 PM CDT for Cook County, Lake County, McHenry County, Illinois. It was in force for 67 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 17, 1986, 3:38 PM CDT (20:38 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 1986, 4:45 PM CDT
In force: 67 min
Issued by: NWS Chicago, IL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Cook County, IL, Lake County, IL, McHenry County, IL

The radar

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

The nearest sounding before it

Peoria Regional, IL (KPIA), launched 12:00Z, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 216 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: 1014 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 561 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 2.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCHI 172038
TORCHI
ILC111-097-031-172145-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
338 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 445 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

NORTHEAST ILLINOIS...SOUTHEAST MCHENRY...LAKE AND EXTREME NORTHWEST 
 COOK

AT 3 30 PM RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO IN NORTHEAST KANE COUNTY
SOUTHWEST OF CARPENTERSVILLE. THIS STORM HAS PRODUCED TORNADO
REPORTS AS IT MOVED NORTHEAST THROUGH KANE COUNTY SINCE 3PM CDT.

THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY !

   OPTIONAL FREE FORMAT ACTION STATEMENT
 TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE CARPENTERSVILLE
 BARRINGTON WAUCONDA AND LIBERTYVILLE.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...YOU SHOULD GO TO A
BASEMENT SHELTER IF AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE GO TO A CENTRAL INTERIOR
ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING.

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA. REMEMBER
THESE STORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE A TORNADO WITH LITTLE
OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.

YOU MAY REPORT ANY SEVERE WEATHER SUCH AS TORNADOES...DAMAGING
WINDS...LARGE HAIL...OR FLOODING TO YOUR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT
AGENCY AND ASK THEM TO RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE OFFICE.

ATTN ISP 2 3

KAHN
PLACE CURSOR THE AND PRESS ENTER

TE POLICE DISTRICTS FOR COUNTY

- DU PAGE, KANE, LAKE, MCHENRY
- NORTH HALF COOK
- SOUTH HALF COOK
- GRUNDY, KENDAL, WILL
- LIVINGSTON
- LASALLE
- FORD, IROQUOIS, KANKAKEE

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 17, 3:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LOT	Kane, Kendall	57 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 1986 Every tornado warning in 1986 Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.