Alert archive / Illinois / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 5, NWS St. Louis, MO

March 17, 1989Madison County, Illinois

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 17, 1989, 5:44 PM CST for Madison County, Illinois. It was in force for 46 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 17, 1989, 5:44 PM CST (23:44 UTC)
Expired
Mar 17, 1989, 6:30 PM CST
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS St. Louis, MO
Area
Whole counties

County Madison 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, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 206 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 1989-03-17Temperature 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 12:00Z on 1989-03-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 256 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1272 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
60 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
256 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
319 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 KSTL 172344
SVRSTL
ILC119-180030-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
544 PM CST FRI MAR 17 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 630 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN
THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...

IN SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS...
          MADISON

AT 540 PM A LARGE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS AT THE WESTERN EDGE OF THE
CITY OF ST LOUIS MOVING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.  THIS STORM
HAS PRODUCED LARGE HAIL...UP TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...IN PARTS OF
WEST ST LOUIS COUNTY BETWEEN 530 AND 540 PM.

PERSONS IN MADISON COUNTY ILLINOIS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR THIS STORM AS
IT MOVES THROUGH THE CITY OF ST LOUIS...ACROSS THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER
INTO MADISON COUNTY.

PROTECT YOURSELF FROM THE DANGERS OF LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND
DEADLY LIGHTNING BY REMAINING INDOORS AS THE STORMS PASSES.  THE STORM
WILL ALSO PRODUCE EXTREMELY HEAVY RAIN THAT WILL CAUSE FLOODING OF
SOME ROADS AND LOW LYING AREAS.  MOTORISTS SHOULD BE VERY CAUTIOUS.

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT.  REMEMBER THAT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO WARNING.

MCCARTHYE

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, Mar 17, 3:16 PM CST, 2 hours 28 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA MO
315 PM CST FRI MAR 17 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER CENTRAL MISSOURI...

AT 300 PM THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING OVER EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI
IN A 10 MILES WIDE LINE FROM 40 MILES NORTHEAST OF COLUMBIA TO
15 MILES EAST OF JEFFERSON CITY.  THE STRONGEST STORM WAS OVER LINN
IN OSAGE COUNTY...15 MILES EAST OF JEFFERSON CITY.  THE OSAGE COUNTY
SHERIFF REPORTED PEA SIZED HAIL WIwTH THIS STORM AT 305 PM.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

PERSONS IN THE AREA OF THESE STORMS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR LARGE HAIL
AND VERY HEAVY.  LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS.

MET
Special weather statement, Mar 17, 3:17 PM CST, 2 hours 27 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTION TO LAST PARAGRAPH...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA MO
315 PM CST FRI MAR 17 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER CENTRAL MISSOURI...

AT 300 PM THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING OVER EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI
IN A 10 MILES WIDE LINE FROM 40 MILES NORTHEAST OF COLUMBIA TO
15 MILES EAST OF JEFFERSON CITY.  THE STRONGEST STORM WAS OVER LINN
IN OSAGE COUNTY...15 MILES EAST OF JEFFERSON CITY.  THE OSAGE COUNTY
SHERIFF REPORTED PEA SIZED HAIL WITH THIS STORM AT 305 PM.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

PERSONS IN THE AREA OF THESE STORMS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR LARGE HAIL
AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.  LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENzTS.

MET
Special weather statement, Mar 17, 3:24 PM CST, 2 hours 20 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
325 PM  CST FRI MAR 17 1989

...STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI...

AT 320 PM  RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN EAST CENTRAL
MISSOURI JUST WEST OF MONTGOMERY CITY OR 30 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF
COLUMBIA.  THE STORM IS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.
HAIL AND STRONG WINDS ARE EXPECTED IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY AS THE STORM
MOVES NEAR MONTGOMERY CITY AND WELLSVILLE BETWEEN 330 AND 4 PM.

HAMILTON
Special weather statement, Mar 17, 4:55 PM CST, 49 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA MO
455 PM CST FRI MAR 17 1989

...TORNADO WATCH OF PORTIONS OF EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI UNTIL 10 PM...
...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHWEST CENTRAL MISSOURI...

AT 445 PM STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER BENTON AND MORGAN COUNTIES
IN A 15 MILE WIDE AREA FROM 40 MILES WEST OF JEFFERSON CITY...JUST
NORTH OF STOVER...TO 75 MILES SOUTHWEST OF JEFFERSON CITY...15 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF WARSAW.  THE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST 
AT 50 MILES AN HOUR.  PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS SHOULD BE 
ALERT FOR PEA TO MARBLE SIZED HAIL AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.  THE STRONGEST
STORM WAS SOUTHWEST OF WARSAW AND WILL BE MOVING THROUGH WARSAW BETWEEN
455 PM AND 505 PM.  BOATERS ON TRUMAN LAKE SHOULD SEEK SHELTER.

MET

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 17, 4:28 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXCalhoun47 min
Mar 17, 4:54 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXJersey36 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.