Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Paducah, KY

May 15, 1986Pulaski County, Illinois

NWS Paducah, KY issued this tornado warning at May 15, 1986, 8:45 PM CDT for Pulaski County, Illinois. It was in force for 60 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 15, 1986, 8:45 PM CDT (01:45 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 1986, 9:45 PM CDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Paducah, KY
Area
Whole counties

County Pulaski 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

Salem-Leckrone, IL (KSLO), launched 00:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 160 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, Salem-Leckrone, IL at 00:00Z on 1986-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1239 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Salem-Leckrone, IL at 00:00Z on 1986-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 127 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1239 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
892 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
127 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
192 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
5.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 15, 3:33 PM CDT, 5 hours 12 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EVANSVILLE IN
335 PM CDT THU MAY 15 1986

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL
INDIANA AS WELL AS EXTREME NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNTIL 9 PM CDT.
...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT FOR
PARTS OF NORTHERN AND ALL OF WESTERN KENTUCKY...

AT 330 PM CDT THERE WERE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTHWEST INDIANA AND
SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS. THE STORM WERE ON A LINE FROM NEAR BEDFORD INDIANA
TO PRINCETON INDIANA TO JUST NORTH OF PADUCAH KENTUCKY. THEY WERE
MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH BUY THE GENERAL AREA WAS REMAINING NEARLY
STATIONARY. EXTREMELY HEAVY RAIN AND SOME SMALL HAIL HAVE BEEN REPORTED
WITH THESE STORMS.

OTHERWISE THERE WAS A LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THAT WAS
ABOUT 80 MILES WIDE FROM INDIANAPOLIS TO CAPE GIRARDEAU MISSOURI.
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN WAYNE AND EDWARDS COUNTY ILLINOIS.
BLOCK
Special weather statement, May 15, 7:34 PM CDT, 1 hour 11 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EVANSVILLE IN
735 PM CDT THU MAY 15 1986

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL
INDIANA AS WELL AS EXTREME NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNTIL 9 PM CDT.
...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT FOR
PARTS OF NORTHERN AND ALL OF WESTERN KENTUCKY...

AT 730 PM CDT THERE WERE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTHWEST INDIANA AND
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN THE PETERSBURG
INDIANA AREA AND NEAR HARRISBURG ILLINOIS. THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE
VERY HEAVY RAIN...SMALL HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS.

THE GENERAL AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS ABOUT 80 MILES WIDE FROM COLUMBUS
INDIANA TO 50 MILES SOUTHWEST OF PADUCAH KENTUCKY. THEY WERE MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN MOVING THROUGH THE SAME GENERAL AREA
MOST OF THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SOME FLOODING OF LOW AREAS IS
LIKELY AS MORE HEAVY RAIN MOVES THjROUGH DURING THE NIGHT.
BLOCK
Special weather statement, May 15, 8:36 PM CDT, 9 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EVANSVILLE IN
835 PM CDT THU MAY 15 1986

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL
INDIANA AS WELL AS EXTREME NORTHERN KENTUCKY UNTIL 9 PM CDT.
...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT FOR
PARTS OF NORTHERN AND ALL OF WESTERN KENTUCKY...

AT 830 PM CDT THERE WERE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTHWEST INDIANA AND
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN HAMILTON AND
WAYNE COUNTIES NEAR FAIRFIELD AND MCLEANSBORO. THERE WAS ANOTHER VERY
STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR WASHINGTON INDIANA IN DAVIESS COUNTY.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALL MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. THE STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS WERE BECOMING FEWER BUT REMAINED POTENTIALY DANGEROUS.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN MOVING THROUGH THE SAME GENERAL AREA
MOST OF THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SOME FLOODING OF LOW AREAS IS
POSSIBLE.
BLOCK

The office that day

Everything else NWS Paducah, KY issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 7:46 PM CDTTornado WarningPAHFranklin, Hamilton44 min
May 15, 8:01 PM CDTTornado WarningPAHAlexander59 min
May 15, 9:00 PM CDTTornado WarningPAHAlexander, Union60 min
May 15, 10:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAHAlexander, Pulaski60 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 1986Every tornado warning in 1986Tornadoes 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.