Alert archive / Illinois / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 40, NWS St. Louis, MO

May 25, 1989Pike County, Scott County, Illinois

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 25, 1989, 12:54 AM CDT for Pike County, Scott County, Illinois. It was in force for 36 min. 3 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
May 25, 1989, 12:54 AM CDT (05:54 UTC)
Expired
May 25, 1989, 1:30 AM CDT
In force
36 min
Issued by
NWS St. Louis, MO
Area
Whole counties

Counties Pike County, IL, Scott 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, 1:00 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Scott, IL
May 25, 1:20 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Pike, IL
May 25, 1:20 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Scott, 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, 5.9 hours before the alert went out and 147 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

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

000 
TTAA00 KSTL 250559
SVRSTL
ILC149-171-250630-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
1254 AM CDT THU MAY 25 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST L

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, 7:05 PM CDT, 5 hours 49 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND MISSOURI WEATHER SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
700 PM CDT WED MAY 24 1989

...SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL FOR MISSOURI...

A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN POSTED FOR A LARGE PART OF NORTHERN MISSOURI
UNTIL MIDNIGHT.  AT 7 PM A CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS...SOME SEVERE...
WAS IN SOUTHWEST IOWA...JUST NORTH OF THE MISSOURI STATE LINE.  THESE
STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST...BUT ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT
IS EXPECTED OVER NORTHWEST THROUGH NORTH CENTRAL MISSOURI EARLY
TONIGHT.

ELSEWHERE IN MISSOURI JUST BEFORE 7 PM SKIES WERE PARTLY TO MOSTLY
CLOUDY.  ISOLATED THUNDERSHOWERS OVER SOUTHEAST MISSOURI EARLIER THIS
EVENING HAVE DIMINISHED AND MOVED INTO SOUTHERN ILLINOIS.
TEMPERATURES AROUND MISSOURI AT 7 PM WERE IN THE UPPER 70S TO MID 80S.

CONDITIONS REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR THE REDEVELOPMENT OF MORE
THUNDERSTORMS IN MISSOURI LATER TONIGHT...ESPECIALLY OVER THE NORTH
AND WEST PARTS OF THE STATE...THEN INTO THURSDAY OVER THE SOUTHEAST.

THE STORMS ARE EXPECTED AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT THAT WAS JUST BEGINNING
TO PUSH INTO THE FAR NORTHWEST TIP OF MISSOURI THIS EVENING FROM THE
PLAINS.  THE FRONT WILL MAKE ITS WAY SOUTHEAST THROUGH THE STATE LATER
TONIGHT AND THURSDAY...FOLLOWED BY SOME COOLER AND DRIER AIR THAT WILL
PREVAIL TO THE END OF THE WEEK.

FAIR WEATHER IS EXPECTED FOR AT LEAST THE FIRST PART OF THE UPCOMING
HOLIDAY WEEKEND...WITH A CHANCE FOR MORE THUNDERSTORMS ON MONDAY.

MCCARTHY
Special weather statement, May 24, 9:54 PM CDT, 3 hours before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
950 PM CDT WED MAY 24 1989

...TORNADO WATCH FOR PARTS OF NORTHERN AND WEST CENTRAL MISSOURI
INTO WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS...

AT 940 PM A BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...
STRONG WINDS AND POSSIBLY HAIL...EXTENDED FROM LANCASTER MISSOURI...
ABOUT 20 MILES NORTH OF KIRKSVILLE...TO NEAR KANSAS CITY.
THE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 40 MPH AND WILL CONTINUE
TRACKING ACROSS PARTS OF NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL MISSOURI
FROM 10 PM TO MIDNIGHT.

A FEW OF THESE STORMS SHOULD REACH THE KIRKSVILLE AREA BY 1030 PM.

MCCARTHY
Special weather statement, May 25, 12:31 AM CDT, 23 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
1230 AM CDT THU MAY 25 1989

...TORNADO WATCH FOR PARTS OF NORTHERN AND WEST CENTRAL MISSOURI
INTO WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS...

AT 1230AM...A LINE OF VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED ACROSS
PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST MISSOURI AND WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS.  THE
LEADING EDGE OF THIS LINE EXTENDED FROM NEAR PITTSFIELD IN PIKE
COUNTY ILLINOIS..TO HANNIBAL TO MEXICO MISSOURI.  THIS IS ABOUT
50 MILES TO THE NORTHWEST OF ST. LOUIS.

THE STRONGEST STORMS IN THIS LINE WERE PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN..
UP TO AN INCH PER HOUR..STRONG GUSTY WINDS..AND PERHAPS SOME HAIL.

THE LINE WAS DROPPING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH AND SHOULD MOVE ACROSS
BROWN SCOTT AND PIKE COUNTIES IN ILLINOIS AS WELL AS PIKE AND RALLS
COUNTIES IN MISSOURI BETWEEN 1230 AND 130 THIS MORNING.
THESE STORMS SHOULD NEAR THE ST LOUIS AREA AROUND 2 OR 3AM THIS
MORNING.

A TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES FORp PORTIONS OF CENTRAL MISSOURI AND
WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS UNTIL 6AM.  ALL WATCHES ARE NOW CANCELLED FROM
30 MILES NW OF HANNIBAL..TO 30 MILES S OF KANSAS CITY.

FELDT

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 25, 1:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXCalhoun, Greene45 min
May 25, 8:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXCalhoun, Pike55 min
May 25, 8:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXGreene55 min
May 25, 9:52 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXGreene38 min
May 25, 10:59 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMonroe31 min
May 25, 12:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXCalhoun, Greene44 min
May 25, 2:33 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXEffingham, Fayette27 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.