Alert archive / Illinois / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 49, NWS Lincoln, IL

July 15, 1987Champaign County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 15, 1987, 3:00 PM CDT for Champaign County, Illinois. It was in force for 30 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 15, 1987, 3:00 PM CDT (20:00 UTC)
Expired
Jul 15, 1987, 3:30 PM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Lincoln, IL
Area
Whole counties

County Champaign 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, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 132 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 1987-07-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 34 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1987-07-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 166 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
34 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-162 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1071 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
166 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
201 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 152000
SVRSPI
ILC019-152030-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD IL
300 PM CDT WED JUL 15 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 330 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTY OF

EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS...NORTHERN CHAMPAIGN

AT 2.50 PM CDT CHAMPAING COUNTY ESDA REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD WITH A
THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHERN CHAMPAIGN COUNTY 15 MILES NORTH OF
CHAMPAIGN. THE FUNNEL CLOUD AND THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING TOWARD THE
EAST AND SOUTHEAST AT 20 TO 25 MPH.

IF YOU ARE IN AN AREA THREATENED BY THE STORM..GO TO A REINFORCED
SHELTER AND PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY
RAIN AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

REMEMBER...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE
A TORNADO WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING SO BE ON THE LOOKOUT.

 ATTN ISP DIST...10
 FS

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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, Jul 15, 2:49 PM CDT, 11 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD IL
2.45 PM CDT WED JUL 15 1987

...HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS IN EASTCENTRAL ILLINOIS...
AT 245 PM SEVERAL CLUSTERS OF THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN AND
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING HAD DEVELOPED IN EASTCENTRAL ILLINOIS. ONE CLUSTER
WAS IN NORTHWEST COLES COUNTY...TO THE NORTHWEST OF MATTOON. ANOTHER
WAS IN NORTHERN EDGAR...NORTH OF PARIS ILLINOIS AND ANOTHER WAS IN
NORTHERN CHAMPAIGN COUNTY...NORTHWEST OF RANTOUL.

ALL OF THE PRECIPITATION WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AND SOUTHEAST AT
AROUND 20 MPH.

PERSONS IN EASTCENTRAL ILLINOIS SHOULD REMAIN ON THE ALERT FOR WEATHER
DEVELOPMENTS.

FS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 15, 4:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXChampaign, Vermilion20 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Illinois, 1987Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1987

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.