Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Chicago, IL

August 28, 1990Will County, Illinois

NWS Chicago, IL issued this tornado warning at Aug 28, 1990, 3:51 PM CDT for Will County, Illinois. It was in force for 69 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 28, 1990, 3:51 PM CDT (20:51 UTC)
Expired
Aug 28, 1990, 5:00 PM CDT
In force
69 min
Issued by
NWS Chicago, IL
Area
Whole counties

County Will 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

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 12:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 338 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, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 1990-08-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2944 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, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 1990-08-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 75 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
2944 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
575 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
75 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
83 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.1
Supercell composite
4.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCHI 282051
TORCHI
ILC197-282200-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
351 PM CDT TUE AUG 28 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 500 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE NORTHEAST PART OF ILLINOIS
      WEST CENTRAL WILL

AT 3 45 PM CDT A TORNADO WAS REPORTED AT CREST HILL...A NORTHERN
SUBURB OF JOLIET. THE TORNADO WILL TRACK NORTH AND EAST OF JOLIET
TOWARD NEW LENOX FOLLWOIG ROUTE 30.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF
THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF POSSIBLE. OTHERWISE
GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. ABANDON
CARS AND MOBILE HOMES. TAKE COVER IN A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GO
TO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

SOMREK
ATTN ISP 5

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, Aug 28, 1:08 PM CDT, 2 hours 43 minutes before
ILZ001-002-261810-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROCKFORD IL
105  PM CDT TUE AUG 28 1990

...TUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP OVER EXTREMEM NORTHERN ILLINOIS...

AT 1 PM A CLUSTER OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED RAPIDLY
OVER EXTEREME NORTHERN ILLINOIS. THE STORMS WERE LOCATED NORTH OF A
LINE FORM ORANGEVILLE TO DURAND TO ROCKTON  NEAR THE ILLINOIS WISCONSIN
BORDERS THEY WERE WERE MOVING TO THE EAST SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

BREIF HEAKVY RAINFALL STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND SMALL HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED
WITH THESE STORMS. PERSONS NEAR THOSE AREAS SHOULD BE ON ALERRT
FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING CONDITIONS.

LIBRIZZI
ATT:ISP...1..16..2
Special weather statement, Aug 28, 1:12 PM CDT, 2 hours 39 minutes before
ILZ001-002-281900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROCKFORD IL
105  PM CDT TUE AUG 28 1990

...TUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP OVER EXTREME  NORTHERN ILLINOIS...

AT 1 PM A CLUSTER OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED RAPIDLY
OVER EXTEREME NORTHERN ILLINOIS. THE STORMS WERE LOCATED NORTH OF A
LINE FORM ORANGEVILLE TO DURAND TO ROCKTON  NEAR THE ILLINOIS WISCONSIN
BORDERS THEY WERE WERE MOVING TO THE EAST SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

BREIFV HEAVY RAINFALL STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND SMALL HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED
WITH THESE STORMS. PERSONS NEAR THOSE AREAS SHOULD BE ON ALERRT
FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING CONDITIONS.

LIBRIZZI
ATT:ISP...1..16..2
Special weather statement, Aug 28, 1:26 PM CDT, 2 hours 25 minutes before
ILZ001-002-281900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROCKFORD IL
125  PM CDT TUE AUG 28 1990

...STRONG THUNDERSTORM OVER EXTREME  NORTHERN ILLINOIS...

AT 120 PM RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM JUST SOUTH OF DURAND
ABOUT 20 MILES NORTHWEST OF THE CITY OF ROCKFORD MOVING TOWARDS THE
EAST AT 30 MPH. THIS STORM WILL BRING BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL ALONG WITH
STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND SMALL HAIL. THE STORM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE
NORTHERRN PORTIONS OF THE CITY OF ROCKFORD INTO BOONE COUNTY
BY 2 PM .
PERSONS IN OR NEAR NEAR THOSE AREAS SHOULD BE ON ALERT
FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING CONDITIONS.

LIBRIZZI
ATT:ISP...1..16..2
Special weather statement, Aug 28, 2:01 PM CDT, 1 hour 50 minutes before
ILZ003-201200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
2 00 PM CDT TUE AUG 28 1990

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN POSTED FOR NORTHERN ILLINOIS
INCLUDING THE CHICAGO AREA FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING.

A COLD FRONT MOVING SOUTH FROM WISCONSIN HAS FORCED THUNDERSTORMS
TO DEVELOP IN SOUTHERN WISCONSIN AND NORTHERN ILLINOIS. AT 2 PM
THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED IN A LINE FROM JUST SOUTH OF
MILWAUKEE TO JUST WEST OF ROCKFORD AND HAD ENTERED THE EXTREME NORTH
AND NORTHEST PORTIONS OF THE CHICAGO SUBURBAN AREAS.

THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS ARE SLIPPING SOUTHEAST AND WILL MOVE ACROSS
THE CHICAGO AREA BETWEEN 2 AND 6 PM. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS MAY
BE SEVERE2 AND PRODUCE STRONG WINDS AND LARGE HAIL.

BE ALERT FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING AND THREATENING WEATHER AND BE PREPARED
TO SEEK SHELTER AS NECESSARY.

SOMREK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 28, 2:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTKane58 min
Aug 28, 3:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTDuPage, Kane, Kendall, Will68 min
Aug 28, 4:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTKankakee59 min
Aug 28, 6:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTLaSalle60 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 1990Every tornado warning in 1990Tornadoes 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.