Alert archive / Illinois / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 20, NWS Lincoln, IL

May 15, 1990Macoupin County, Montgomery County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 15, 1990, 5:06 PM CDT for Macoupin County, Montgomery County, Illinois. It was in force for 69 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 15, 1990, 5:06 PM CDT (22:06 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 1990, 6:15 PM CDT
In force
69 min
Issued by
NWS Lincoln, IL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Macoupin County, IL, Montgomery 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

Paducah/Barkley, KY (KPAH), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 257 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, Paducah/Barkley, KY at 12:00Z on 1990-05-15Temperature 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 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Paducah/Barkley, KY at 12:00Z on 1990-05-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 107 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
0 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
107 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
107 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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 15, 11:14 AM CDT, 5 hours 52 minutes before
ILZ009-010-151700-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD IL
1110AM CDT TUE MAY 15 1989

...HEAVY RAIN ENTERING CENTRAL ILLINOIS...
AT 11.10 AM CDT THE LEADING EDGE OF A LARGE AREA OF RAINSHOWERS AND
A FEW THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM MISSOURI THROUGH QUINCY TO THE
SPRINGFIELD AREA THEN BACK TO EAST ST. LOUIS. THE RAIN WAS BUILDING
RAPIDLY TOWARD THE NORTHEAST. WHEN THE HEAVY RAIN BEGINS...IT SHOULD
LAST FOR SEVERAL HOURS. PLACES THAT HAVE ALL READY BEEN SATURATED BY
PREVIOUS RAINS WILL SHOW CONSIDERABLE PUDDLING AND POOLING AND SOME
FLOODING OF FLOOD PRONE AREAS IS POSSIBLE.

RAIN WILL CONTINUE FROM TIME TO TIME THROUGH WEDNESDAY WITH MORE
PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN TONIjGHT.

FS
Special weather statement, May 15, 3:18 PM CDT, 1 hour 48 minutes before
ILZ009-010-152110-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD IL
318 PM CDT TUE MAY 15 1989

...TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 9 PM CDT FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN
ILLINOIS..
...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...

AT 315 PM CDT WEATHER SERVICE RADARS SHOWS A LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER CENTRAL AND EASTERN ILLINOIS. THE STORMS WERE
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM JUST NORTH OF QUINCY ILLINOIS TO TO 40 MILES
NORTHEAST OF DANVILLE ILLINOIS.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED 35 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
SPRINGFIELD NEAR PANA ILLINOIS AND 30 MILES SOUTH OF DECATUR ILLINOIS
NEAR SHELBYVILLE ILLINOIS.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE HEAVY RAINFALL AMOUNTS..BRIEF
STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS...HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING..LOCAL FLOODING

CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THE HEAVY DOWNPOURS.

THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
OFFICE IN SPRINGFIELD DURING THE PAST HOUR.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM CDT FOR THE CENTRAL
ILLINOIS COUNTIES OF COLE..CLARK...CUMBERLAND...SHELBY...MACOUPIN
...MONTGOMERY AND CHRISTIAN.
A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS NIN EFFECT THIS THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT.

HILLIARD
Special weather statement, May 15, 5:06 PM CDT, 0 minutes before
ILZ009-010-152215-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD IL
405 PM CDT TUE MAY 15 1989

...TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 9 PM CDT FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN
ILLINOIS..
...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...

AT 355 PM CDT A LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS 80 MILES WIDE
EXTENDED FROM 20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF CHAMPAIGN TO 20 MILES SOUTHWEST
OF QUINCY. THE RAIN WAS MOVING TOWARD THE EAST AT 30 TO 40 MPH.

THE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING THE HEAVIEST RAIN WERE JUST TO THE NORTH
OF THE CONFLUENCE OF THE ILLINOIS AND MISSISSIPPI RIVERS. WARNING HAVE
BEEN ISSUED FOR CALHOUN...JERSEY AND GREEN COUNTIES AND MACOUPIN WILL
BE WATCHED CAREFULLY DURING THE HOUR BEFORE 5PM.

NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED TO THE SPRINGFIELD WEATHER OFFICE
DURING THE LAST HOUR.

FS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 6:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXChristian, Montgomery, Shelby59 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Illinois, 1990Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1990

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.