Alert archive / Illinois / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 49, NWS Lincoln, IL

October 17, 1988Champaign County, Vermilion County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 17, 1988, 10:57 AM CDT for Champaign County, Vermilion County, Illinois. It was in force for 48 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 17, 1988, 10:57 AM CDT (15:57 UTC)
Expired
Oct 17, 1988, 11:45 AM CDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Lincoln, IL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Champaign County, IL, Vermilion 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, 4.0 hours before the alert went out and 149 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 1988-10-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 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 1988-10-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 246 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1199 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
246 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
462 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 171602 COR
SVRSPI
ILC019-183-171645-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED...CORRECTION FOR TIME
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD IL
1057 AM CDT MON OCT 17 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1145 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES

   IN THE EAST CENTRAL PART OF ILLINOIS
      NORTHERN CHAMPAIGN...NORTHERN VERMILION

AT 1045 AM A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND POSSIBLY
DAMAGING WIND WAS LOCATED NEAR GIBSON CITY...ABOUT 25 MILES NORTH
NORTHWEST  OF CHAMPAIGN. IT WAS MOVING TOWARD THE EAST SOUTHEAST AT
30 TO 35 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
s

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, Oct 17, 7:30 AM CDT, 3 hours 27 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD IL
725  AM CDT MON OCT 17 1988

...DENSE FOG OVER PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN ILLINOIS...

AT 7 AM CDT PATCHY AREAS OF DENSE FOG WAS OVER EASTERN ILLINOIS
REDUCING VISIBILITIES TO 1/2 OF A MILE OR LESS IN SOME LOCATIONS.

VISIBILITY AT CHAMPAIGN WAS 1/8 OF A MILE...WHILE DANVILLE WAS 1/4
OF A MILE.

MOTORISTS AND OTHER INTEREST ARE URGE TO USE EXTREME CAUTION AND
ALLOW AMPLE TIME FOR TRAVEL.

THESE CONDITIONS WILL CONTINURE FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS AND SOME
IMPROVEMENT IS EXPECTED BY MID MORNING.
HILLIARD

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 17, 9:21 AM CDTTornado WarningILXMarshall, Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford49 min
Oct 17, 9:55 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMcLean65 min
Oct 17, 1:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXLogan, Macon, Sangamon56 min
Oct 17, 1:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXChristian56 min
Oct 17, 1:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMcDonough49 min
Oct 17, 5:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXLogan, Menard, Sangamon69 min
Oct 17, 6:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXChristian, Montgomery59 min
Oct 17, 6:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXDeWitt, Logan, Macon59 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Illinois, 1988Every severe thunderstorm warning 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.