Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 9, NWS Quad Cities, IA
NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this tornado warning at May 8, 1988, 3:59 PM CDT for Mercer County, Rock Island County, Illinois. It was in force for 46 min. 2 reports 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 8, 1988, 3:59 PM CDT (20:59 UTC)
- Expired
- May 8, 1988, 4:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 46 min
- Issued by
- NWS Quad Cities, IA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Mercer County, IL, Rock Island 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 8, 4:15 PM CDT | Tornado F1 | Rock Island, IL | |
| May 8, 4:24 PM CDT | Hail 0.88 | Rock Island, 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, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 115 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1404 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 49 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 194 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 203 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- -0.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KMLI 082059
TORMLI
ILC161-131-082145-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOLINE IL
359 PM CDT SUN MAY 8 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 445 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES
IN THE NORTHWEST PART OF ILLINOIS
ROCK-ISLAND...MERCER
AT 355PM CDT...A TORNADO WAS REPORTED OVER MILAN IL..5 MILES
WEST OF MOLINE.
THE TORNADO WAS MOVING NORTHEAT AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
IF TIME PERMITS..ASK THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY TO RELAY
YOUR REPORT OF SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
-FOBERTWhat 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 8, 1:17 PM CDT, 2 hours 42 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOLINE ILLINOIS 115 PM CDT SUN MAY 8 1988 ...THUNDERSTORMS APPROACHING THE QUAD-CITIES... A 20 MILE WIDE LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED OVER EXTREME EASTERN IOWA ABOUT 20 MILES WEST OF THE QUAD-CITIES. THE LINE EXTENDED FROM NEAR DUBUQUE THROUGH MUSCATINE TO AROUND BURLINGTON IN EASTERN IOWA. THE LINE WAS MOVING EAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL BE MOVING THROUGH THE QUAD-CITY AREA BY 2PM. A SECOND LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS..SOME SEVERE..EXTENDED FROM WATERLOO TO NEAR OTTUMWA. THIS LINE OF STORMS WILL REACH THE QUAD CITIES LATER THIS AFTERNOON. FOBERT
The office that day
Everything else NWS Quad Cities, IA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 4:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Henry, Whiteside | 67 min |
| May 8, 4:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Jo Daviess | 44 min |
| May 8, 4:41 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DVN | Rock Island, Whiteside | 34 min |
| May 8, 5:03 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Henry | 27 min |
| May 8, 5:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Whiteside | 30 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 1988Every tornado warning in 1988Tornadoes in 1988
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.