Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 1, NWS St. Louis, MO

April 26, 1989Greene County, Illinois

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this tornado warning at Apr 26, 1989, 10:32 PM CDT for Greene County, Illinois. It was in force for 28 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 26, 1989, 10:32 PM CDT (03:32 UTC)
Expired
Apr 26, 1989, 11:00 PM CDT
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS St. Louis, MO
Area
Whole counties

County Greene 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 00:00Z, 3.5 hours before the alert went out and 161 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 1989-04-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1526 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Peoria Regional, IL at 00:00Z on 1989-04-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 42 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1526 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-61 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1669 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
42 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
111 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSTL 270330
TORSTL
ILC061-270400-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
1032 PM CDT WED APR 26 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS
          ...SOUTHERN GREENE
 
A TORNADO HAS BEEN REPORTED ABOUT 2 MILES EAST OF CARLTON IN GREENE
COUNTY. THIS IS ABOUT 35 MILES NORTH OF THE ST LOUIS METROPOLITAN
AREA.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A S\MALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

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, Apr 26, 7:58 PM CDT, 2 hours 34 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
750 PM CDT WED APR 26 1989

...TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM FOR EXTREME NORTH
MISSOURI...

AT 750 PM...THE SHERIFFS OFFICE IN CAHOKA IN CLARK COUNTY IN NORTHEAST
MISSOURI REPORTED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG WINDS.  NO REPORTS
OF SEVERE WEATHER HAVE BEEN REPORTED TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
AT THIS TIME.

PERSONS IN CLARK COUNTY SHOULD REMAIN ALE:RT FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF
SEVERE WEATHER THIS EVENING.  A FEW OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE SEVERE
AS THEY MOVED ACROSS IOWA.  THE WEATHER OFFICE IN PEORIA REPORTED
A WIND GUST TO 69 MPH AT 750 PM.
Special weather statement, Apr 26, 10:19 PM CDT, 13 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
1015 PM CDT WED APR 26 1989

...GUSTY WINDS HEADED INTO EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI...

THE THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHEAST MISSOURI AND WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS HAVE
PRODUCED A STRONG OUTFLOW OF WIND WHICH IS MOVING SOUTH.  THIS WIND
WILL REACH LINCOLN COUNTY MISSOURI AND CALHOUN COUNTY ILLINOIS NEAR
1030 PM AND THEN REACH ST CHARLES COUNTY MISSOURI AND JERSEY COUNTY
ILLINOIS BETWEEN 1040 AND 11 PM.  WINDS OF 35 TO 45 MPH CAN BE
EXPECTED.  THE WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO PUSH SOUTH INTO THE ST LOUIS
AREA BUT WILL WEAKEN TO ABOUT 30 MPH.

A FEW SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DRIFT INTO THE ST LOUIS AREA
AROUND MIDNIGHT BUT THE BEST CHANCHE OF RAIN WILL PROBABLY BE JUST
TO THE EAST OF ST LOUIS.

TUCKER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 26, 8:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXAdams36 min
Apr 26, 8:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXBrown28 min
Apr 26, 9:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXPike32 min
Apr 26, 10:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXAdams, Pike28 min
Apr 26, 10:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXJersey, Madison33 min
Apr 26, 10:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXCalhoun33 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.