Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 16, NWS Lincoln, IL

September 8, 1989DeWitt County, Macon County, Piatt County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this tornado warning at Sep 8, 1989, 3:53 PM CDT for DeWitt County, Macon County, Piatt County, Illinois. It was in force for 37 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 8, 1989, 3:53 PM CDT (20:53 UTC)
Expired
Sep 8, 1989, 4:30 PM CDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Lincoln, IL
Area
Whole counties

Counties DeWitt County, IL, Macon County, IL, Piatt 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, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 98 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 1989-09-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1787 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, Peoria Regional, IL at 12:00Z on 1989-09-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -18 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
1787 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-54 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
577 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-18 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
101 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSPI 082053
TORSPI
ILC039-115-147-082130-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD IL
353 PM CDT FRI SEP 8 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 430 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE CENTRAL PART OF ILLINOIS
      EASTERN DE WITT...EXTREME NORTHERN MACON...NORTHERN PIATT

AT 340 PM CDT...RADAR CONTINUED TO INDICATE A TORNADO 35 TO 40
MILES NORTHEAST OF SPRINGFIELD IN EXTREME NORTH CENTRAL MACON
COUNTY NEAR THE COMMUNITY OF MAROA.

THE TORNADO WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

TOWNS AND COMMUNITIES IN AND NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE
MAROA...ARGENTA...CISCO...AND MONTICELLO.

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 DISTS 6 AND 10
 PALMER

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, Sep 8, 1:02 PM CDT, 2 hours 51 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEORIA IL
105 PM CDT FRI SEP 8 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING MOVING INTO
CENTRAL ILLINOIS...

AT 100 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FROM ROCKFORD SOUTH TO JUST WEST OF PEORIA
TO QUINCY.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS CONTAIN HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS AND
DANGEROUS GROUND STROKES OF LIGHTNING.

THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

RECENT RAIN OVER CENTRAL ILLINOIS HAS SATURATED THE GROUND.  ADDITIONAL
HEAVY RAIN MAY CAUSE LOW-LAND FLOODING AND PONDING OF WATER ON
ROADWAYS...SO BE ON THE LOOKOUT.

ATTN ISP DIST...7..8..14..17

J LAST
Special weather statement, Sep 8, 2:04 PM CDT, 1 hour 49 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEORIA IL
205 PM CDT FRI SEP 8 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN CONTINUE TO MOVE THROUGH CENTRAL
ILLINOIS...

AT 200 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FROM LASALLE ILLINOIS...50 MILES NORTHEAST
OF PEORIA TO QUINCY.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS CONTAIN HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY
WINDS AND DANGEROUS GROUND STROKES OF LIGHTNING.

THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

AUGUSTA ILLINOIS...IN SOUTHEAST HANCOCK COUNTY...RECEIVED 1.53 INCHES OF
RAIN IN ONE HOUR JUST AFTER NOON.  THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE
AT PEORIA RECEIVED 0.25 INCHES OF RAIN IN 20 MINUTES...WITH HEAVY RAIN
STILL FALLING.  FLOODING OF LOW-LYING AREAS AND PONDING OF WATER ON
ROADWAYS IS LIKELY...SO BE ON THE LOOKOUT.

J LAST

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 8, 3:10 PM CDTTornado WarningILXDeWitt, Logan, Macon35 min
Sep 8, 4:47 PM CDTTornado WarningILXChampaign, Piatt28 min
Sep 8, 5:19 PM CDTTornado WarningILXChampaign, Vermilion41 min

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.