Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 14, NWS Lincoln, IL

August 29, 1989Champaign County, Vermilion County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this tornado warning at Aug 29, 1989, 2:15 PM CDT for Champaign County, Vermilion County, Illinois. It was in force for 30 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 29, 1989, 2:15 PM CDT (19:15 UTC)
Expired
Aug 29, 1989, 2:45 PM CDT
In force
30 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

Dayton/James M C, OH (KDAY), launched 12:00Z, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 322 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, Dayton/James M C, OH at 12:00Z on 1989-08-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 25 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, Dayton/James M C, OH at 12:00Z on 1989-08-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 57 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
25 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-73 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
651 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
57 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
43 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 291915
TORSPI
ILC019-183-291945-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD IL
215 PM CDT TUE AUG 29 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 245 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

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

AT 207 PM CDT THE ILLINOIS STATE POLICE HAS CONFIRMED THE SIGHTING
OF FUNNEL CLOUDS ALOFT JUST EAST AND SOUTHEAST OF CHAMPAIGN-URBANA
ILLINOIS NEAR THE TOWN OF HOMER AND ODGEN ILLINOIS.

THE FUNNEL CLOUDS WERE MOVING EAST.

FUNNEL CLOUDS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE A TORNADO WITH LITTLE
OR NO ADVANCE WARNING...SO BE ON THE LOOKOUT AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE
TO A PLACE OF SAFETY.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...GO TO A BASEMENT SHELTER
IF AVAILABLE...OTHERWISE TO A CENTRAL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING.

 ATTN ISP DIST...10
 HUGHES

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, Aug 29, 1:16 PM CDT, 59 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD IL
115 PM CDT TUE AUG 29 1989

...FUNNEL CLOUDS IN EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS...

AT 102 PM CDT THE PUBLIC REPORTED FUNNEL CLOUDS ALOFT IN NORTHERN
CHAMPAIGN COUNTY NEAR GIFFORD LLINOIS AND FLATVILLE ILLINOIS.

AT 108 PM CDT THE ILLINOIS STATE POLICE WERE UNABLE TO CONFIRM THESE
FUNNEL CLOUD SIGHTINGS.

SINCE 1200 PM CDT...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING IN AN
AREA FROM JUST SOUTHWEST OF CHAMPAIGN URBANA ILLINOIS TO ABOUT 20
NORTHEAST OF CHAMPAIGN URBANA ILLINOIS.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE BEING ACCOMPANIED BY VERY LOW HANGING CLOUDS
AS THEY MOVE TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO DEVELOP DURING THE
AFTERNOON. SOME OF THE STORMS WILL BE ATTENDED WITH DANGEROUS LIGHTNING
...BRIEF STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND VERY HEAVY RAINS.

PERSONS SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES THEIR
AREA AND BE PREPARED TO GO TO HA SAFE PLACE IMMEDIATELY.

HUGHES

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 1989Every tornado warning in 1989Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.