Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Lincoln, IL

May 18, 1987DeWitt County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this tornado warning at May 18, 1987, 12:16 PM CDT for DeWitt County, Illinois. It was in force for 29 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 18, 1987, 12:16 PM CDT (17:16 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1987, 12:45 PM CDT
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Lincoln, IL
Area
Whole counties

County DeWitt 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, 5.3 hours before the alert went out and 81 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 1987-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 153 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 1987-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 111 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
153 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-55 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
691 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
111 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
109 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 181716
TORSPI
ILC039-181745-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD IL
1216 PM CDT MON MAY 18 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1245 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

CENTRAL ILLINOIS...DE-WITT

AT (1210 FUNNEL CLOUDS WERE SIGHTED IN DEWITT COUNTY 18 MILES NORTH
OF DECATUR...TO THE EAST OF KENNY AND WEST OF WELDON SPRINGS STATE
PARK. THE FUNNELS WERE MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST.

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

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 1987Every tornado warning in 1987Tornadoes 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.