Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 1, NWS St. Louis, MO
NWS St. Louis, MO issued this tornado warning at Apr 22, 1988, 6:51 PM CDT for Effingham County, Fayette County, Illinois. It was in force for 54 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
- Apr 22, 1988, 6:51 PM CDT (23:51 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 22, 1988, 7:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 54 min
- Issued by
- NWS St. Louis, MO
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Effingham County, IL, Fayette 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 22, 7:30 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Effingham, IL | |
| Apr 22, 7:40 PM CDT | Hail 1.15 | Effingham, 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 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 43 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
- NaN m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 69 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 154 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 296 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KSTL 222352
TORSTL
ILC049-051-230045-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
651 PM CDT FRI APR 22 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 745 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
IN SOUTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS
...NORTHERN FAYETTE...AND NORTHERN EFFINGHAM INCLUDING THE
CITY OF EFFINGHAM.
AT 650 PM A TORNADO PRODUCING THUNDERSTORM WAS 45 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
SPRINGFIELD ILLINOIS IN EASTERN MONTGOMERY COUNTY MOVING EAST AT 45
MPH. A TORNADO WAS REPORTED AT RAYMOND ILLINOIS AT 639 PM.
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT. GET UWNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.What 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, Apr 22, 2:38 PM CDT, 4 hours 13 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO 235 PM CDT FRI APR 22 1988 ...SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR MISSOURI... THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER PARTS OF MISSOURI HAS INCREASED FOR LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY TONIGHT. THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON HOURS IN THE CENTRAL TO SOUTH CENTRAL PARTS OF MISSOURI AND MOVE NORTHEAST DURING THE EVENING. CONDITIONS ARE SUCH THAT SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD BECOME VERY STRONG OR EVEN SEVERE BY THIS EVENING. THE SYSTEM BRINGING THIS THUNDERSTORM THREAT TO MISSOURI WAS CENTERED AROUND A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM NEAR KANSAS CITY AT 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON. A COOL FRONT EXTENDED SOUTH FROM THE LOW THROUGH EXTREME EASTERN KANSAS...WHILE A WARM FRONT STRETCHED FROM THE LOW ACROSS NORTHERN MISSOURI. THERE WERE NO THUNDERSTORMS IN THE STATE AS OF 230 PM...BUT STAY INFORMED AND LISTEN FOR LATER INFORMATION THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ~AS THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP. MCCARTHY
Special weather statement, Apr 22, 4:02 PM CDT, 2 hours 49 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO 400 PM CDT FRI APR 22 1988 ...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI... JUST BEFORE 4 PM A STRONG THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPED IN EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI ABOUT 40 MILES NORTHWEST OF ST. LOUIS IN EXTREME WESTERN LINCOLN COUNTY. SATELLITE PHOTOS SHOWED ADDITIONAL DEVELOPING STORMS THROUGH PARTS OF THE ST. LOUIS AREA. THESE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE TO THE NORTHEAST...AND COULD BECOME QUITE STRONG LATER THIS AFTERNOON...SOME OF THEM POSSIBLY SEVERE. MCCARTHY
Special weather statement, Apr 22, 6:14 PM CDT, 37 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO 613 PM CDT FRI APR 22 1988 ...TORNADO WATCH FOR NORTHEAST MISSOURI AND PARTS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNTIL 10 PM... AT 610 PM A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS JUST NORTH OF LITCHFIELD ILLINOIS...ABOUT 50 TO 60 MILES NORTHEAST OF ST LOUIS. IT WAS MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH AND WAS PRODUCING EXTREMELY HEAVY RAIN... LARGE HAIL...HIGH WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. THE STORM PRODUCED INCH AND A HALF DIAMETER HAIL AT GREENFIELD ILLINOIS IN GREENE COUNTY AT 530 PM. OTHER STORMS...SOME VERY STRONG...STRETCHED FROM JUST NORTH AND NORTHWEST OF QUINCY ILLINOIS TO AROUND SPRINGFIELD ILLINOIS. THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.! MOST OF THE THUNDERSTORMS AROUND THE IMMEDIATE ST LOUIS AREA HAVE DIMINISHED. MCCARTHY
The office that day
Everything else NWS St. Louis, MO issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 22, 5:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | Greene | 45 min |
| Apr 22, 6:39 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | Fayette | 36 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.