Alert archive / Illinois / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS St. Louis, MO

April 5, 1988Jersey County, Madison County, Illinois

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 5, 1988, 7:31 PM CDT for Jersey County, Madison County, Illinois. It was in force for 44 min. 1 report 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
Apr 5, 1988, 7:31 PM CDT (00:31 UTC)
Expired
Apr 5, 1988, 8:15 PM CDT
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS St. Louis, MO
Area
Whole counties

Counties Jersey County, IL, Madison 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 5, 8:00 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 50Madison, 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

Salem-Leckrone, IL (KSLO), launched 00:00Z, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 112 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 1988-04-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1240 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, Salem-Leckrone, IL at 00:00Z on 1988-04-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 129 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
1240 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-178 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1551 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
129 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
144 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
2.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KSTL 060033
SVRSTL
ILC083-119-060115-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
731 PM CDT TUE APR 5 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
UNTIL 815 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS...
   MADISON AND SOUTHEAST JERSEY

AT 725 PM CDT A SMALL LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM
JUST EAST OF ST. CHARLES MISSOURI INTO WEST ST LOUIS COUNTY.  THE
STORMS WERE MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.  THE STORMS PRODUCED
77 MPH WINDS AT THE WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN ST. PETERS AT 717 PM.

PROTECT YOURSELF FROM DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL AND LIGHTNING
BY STAYING IN A BUILDING.[..AWAY FROM WINDOWS.  DO NOT USE THE
TELEPHONE OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES...EXCEPT IN EMERGENCIES.

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT.  BE ALERT...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
CAN PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO WARNING.

MCCARTHY

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, Apr 5, 4:07 PM CDT, 3 hours 24 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA MO
405 PM CDT TUE APR 5 1988

...TORNADO WATCH FOR CENTRAL MISSOURI UNTIL 10PM...
...INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING RAPIDLY INTO CENTRAL MISSOURI...

AT 403 PM CDT A LINE OF VERY INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED FROM
JUST SOUTHWEST OF SEDALIA TO 10 MILES WEST OF WARSAW TO 50 MILES
NORTHWEST OF SPRINGFIELD. THESE STORMS WILL BE MOVING THROUGH PETTIS
...BENTON AND HICKORY COUNTIES BETWEEN 410 AN 445PM AND WILL LIKELY
CONTINUE TO INCREASE IN INTENSITY.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND POSSIBLY TORNADOES ARE EXPECTED TO SWEEP
THROUGH MUCH OF CENTRAL MISSOURI THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. RESIDENTS
SHOULD LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND WARbNINGS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE
COVER IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.
HAGEMEYER
Special weather statement, Apr 5, 5:11 PM CDT, 2 hours 20 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND MISSOURI WEATHER SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
500 PM CDT TUE APR 5 1988

...TORNADO WATCHES REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM FOR SOUTHWEST...CENTRAL
AND NORTHEAST MISSOURI...

A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM NORTHEAST MISSOURI THROUGH THE
COLUMBIA AREA INTO THE SPRINGFIELD AREA AT 5 PM. THIS LINE WAS IN
ADVANCE OF A STRONG COLD FRONT. TEMPERATURES RANGED FROM THE LOW 60S
TO THE LOW 90S. KANSAS CITY INTERNATIONAL WAS REPORTING 61 DEGREES
WHILE THE SPIRIT OF ST LOUIS AIRPORT WAS REPORTING 91.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AROUND 40 MPH.
PERSONS IN THE WATCH AREA ARE ADVISED TO BE ALERT FOR THE POSSIBILITY
OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOES DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND
EVENING HOURS.

WS
Special weather statement, Apr 5, 7:26 PM CDT, 5 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA MO
720 PM CDT TUE APR 5 1988

...TORNADO WATCH FOR EASTERN CENTRAL MISSOURI UNTIL 10PM...

AT 710 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT COLUMBIA INDICATED 
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS OVER CENTRAL MISSOURI.  THUNDERSTORMS WITH 
HEAVY RAIN WERE LOCATED 25 MILES WEST OF COLUMBIA OR WEST OF FRANKLIN
IN HOWARD COUNTY AND JUST NORTHEAST OF HERMITAGE IN HICKORY COUNTY.
THESE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR. 
AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI
EAST OF A LINE FROM NORTH OF MONTGOMERY CITY TO 10 MILES EAST OF JEFFERSON
CITY TO WAYNESVILLE.  THIS AREA OF STORMS WAS MOVING TO LTHE EAST AT
35 MILES AN HOUR.  NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED IN CENTRAL MISSOURI
SINCE 610 PM.  

MET

The office that day

Everything else NWS St. Louis, MO issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 5, 7:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXCalhoun43 min
Apr 5, 7:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXJersey43 min
Apr 5, 7:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXPike, Scott25 min
Apr 5, 8:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMonroe, Saint Clair45 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.