Alert archive / Illinois / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 35, NWS Lincoln, IL

May 25, 1989Macon County, Sangamon County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 25, 1989, 1:45 AM CDT for Macon County, Sangamon County, Illinois. It was in force for 30 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
May 25, 1989, 1:45 AM CDT (06:45 UTC)
Expired
May 25, 1989, 2:15 AM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Lincoln, IL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Macon County, IL, Sangamon 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
May 25, 1:50 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Sangamon, 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 00:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 99 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 00:00Z on 1989-05-25Temperature 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 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 00:00Z on 1989-05-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 230 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
NaN m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
230 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
347 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, May 24, 10:22 PM CDT, 3 hours 23 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEORIA IL
1020 PM CDT WED MAY 24 1989

..TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL ILLINOIS UNTIL 400 AM...

AT 1015 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM WESTERN WISCONSIN SOUTHWEST TO NORTHERN
MISSOURI.  TORNADOES HAVE BEEN REPORTED WITH THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS
IN SOUTHERN IOWA AND NORTHERN MISSOURI.  THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST
AT 35 MILES AN HOUR...AND WILL BE AFFECTING EXTREME WEST CENTRAL
ILLINOIS WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR...AND THE PEORIA AREA AFTER 100 AM.

AS THESE THUNDERSTORMS MOVE INTO THE AREA...BE PREPARED FOR VERY STRONG
WINDS...HEAVY RAIN...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...HAIL AND POSSIBLY TORNADOES.
STAY TUNED TO LOCAL RADIO...TELEVISION...OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER
STATEMENTS ON THIS DANGEROUS WEATHER SITUATION.

J LAST
Special weather statement, May 25, 1:05 AM CDT, 40 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEORIA IL
1255 AM CDT THU MAY 25 1989

...TORNADO WATCH CANCELLED FOR HENDERSON...WARREN...KNOX...HANCOCK...AND
MCDONOUGH COUNTIES...
...TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES TO BE IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF CENTRAL ILLINOIS...

AT 1245 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A 30 MILE WIDE
BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS FROM NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS SOUTHWEST TO
NORTHEASTERN MISSOURI. THE HEAVIEST ACTIVTY WAS ASSOCIATED WITH AN
ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM NEAR CHENOA IN EXTREME NORTHERN MCLEAN COUNTY.
OTHER HEAVY ACTIVITY EXTENDED FROM NEAR TOLUCA...30 MILES NORTHEAST OF
PEORIA IN EASTERN MARSHALL COUNTY TO NEAR KILBOURNE...45 MILES SOUTHWEST
OF PEORIA IN SOUTHERN IMASON COUNTY. MOVEMENT OF THESE STORMS WAS EAST AT
30 MPH.

AS THE THUNDERSTORMS MOVE INTO THESE AREAS...BE PREPARED FOR STRONG
WINDS...HEAVY RAIN...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...HAIL AND POSSIBLY TORNADOES.
MILLER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 24, 11:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXWarren35 min
May 25, 1:54 AM CDTTornado WarningILXSangamon36 min
May 25, 2:38 AM CDTTornado WarningILXDeWitt, Logan37 min
May 25, 3:11 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXChampaign, Douglas, Piatt34 min
May 25, 11:23 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXChristian, Macon, Shelby67 min
May 25, 1:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMacoupin, Morgan42 min
May 25, 1:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXChristian, Montgomery, Sangamon64 min
May 25, 2:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXShelby63 min
May 25, 4:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXColes, Douglas, Edgar61 min
May 25, 5:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXEdgar30 min
May 25, 6:04 PM CDTTornado WarningILXSangamon26 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Illinois, 1989Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1989

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.