Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1991

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Lincoln, IL

May 14, 1991Coles County, Douglas County, Edgar County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this tornado warning at May 14, 1991, 2:00 PM CDT for Coles County, Douglas County, Edgar County, Illinois. It was in force for 45 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 14, 1991, 2:00 PM CDT (19:00 UTC)
Expired
May 14, 1991, 2:45 PM CDT
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Lincoln, IL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Coles County, IL, Douglas County, IL, Edgar County, IL

The nearest sounding before it

Paducah/Barkley, KY (KPAH), launched 12:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 293 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 1991-05-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 64 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, Paducah/Barkley, KY at 12:00Z on 1991-05-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -8 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
64 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-372 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1288 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
28 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 KSPI 141900
TORSPI
ILC041-029-045-141945-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD IL
200 PM CDT TUE MAY 14 1991

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 245 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE EAST CENTRAL PART OF ILLINOIS
      SOUTHERN DOUGLAS...NORTHERN COLES...EDGAR

BETWEEN 130 AND 140 PM...THERE HAVE REPORTS OF TORNADOES 30 MILES
SOUTH OF CHAMPAIGN AND 35 MILES SOUTHEAST OF CHAMPAIGN IN EAST
CENTRAL ILLINOIS.  A LATE REPORT WAS RECEIVED FROM ARCOLA AT 130 PM
AND A LATER REPORT WEST OF HUME AT 140 PM IN EDGAR COUNTY.
THESE TORNADOS WERE MOVING SLOWLY EAST AT 15 MPH.g

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...GO TO A BASEMENT SHELTER
IF AVAILABLE...OTHERWISE TO A CENTRAL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING.

 ATTN ISP DIST...10
 PALMER

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, May 14, 8:00 AM CDT, 6 hours before
ILZ005>007-009-141630-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEORIA IL
800 AM CDT TUE MAY 14 1991

AT 745 A THUNDERSTORM WAS DETECTED IN SOUTHWESTERN FULTON COUNTY NEAR
ASTORIA...45 MILES TO THE SOUTHWEST OF PEORIA. VERY HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLY
SOME SMALL HAIL COULD BE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS THUNDERSTORM. THE STORM IS
MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST ALONG THE ILLINOIS RIVER AT ABOUT 15 MPH. DUE TO THE
SLOW MOVEMENT AND HEVY RAIN WITH THIS STORM YTHE POSSIBILITY EXIST FOR MINOR
FLODING OF STREETS LOW LYING AGRICULTURAL AREA.

BREESER
Special weather statement, May 14, 9:01 AM CDT, 4 hours 59 minutes before
ILZ005>007-009-141500-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEORIA IL
900 AM CDT TUE MAY 14 1991

...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE ACROSS WEST AND CENTRAL ILLINOIS...

AT 8:57 THIS MORNING... RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING
SOME VERY HEAVY RAINFALL IN EASTERN FULTON COUNTY NEAR HAVANA. THE STORM
HAS WEAKENED SOMEWHAT DURING THE PAST HOUR BUT IS STILL CAPABLE OF
PRODUCING GUSTY WINDS AND SMALL HAIL ALONG WITH THE HEAVY RAIN.

THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH AND WILL MOVE UP ALONG THE ILLINOIS
RIVER IN THE GENERAL DIRECTION OF PEORIA.  IF THE STORM HOLDS TOGETHER IT
MAY BE EXPECTED TO REACH THE SOUTHERN SECTIONS OF PEORIA BY ABOUT 10:30 AM.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE OUT IN WESTERN ILLINOIS NEAR QUINCY. THOSE THUNDER-
STORMS WERE ALSO MOVING SLOWLY NORTHEAST TO HANCOCK AND SCHUYLER COUNTIES.

JACOBS
Special weather statement, May 14, 1:35 PM CDT, 25 minutes before
ILZ005>007-009-141930-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEORIA IL
135 PM CDT TUE MAY 14 1991

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 330 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM FOR
   EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS... INCLUDING MCLEAN COUNTY...

AT 1:30 THIS AFTERNOON RADAR INDICATED SHOWERS OVER THE EASTERN HALF
OF MCLEAN COUNTY... MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH.

ELSEWHERE... A NEW THUNDERSTORM WAS DEVELOPING OVER KNOX COUNTY ABOUT
10 MILES EAST OF GALESBURG.
E
A COUPLE OF SHOWERS HAD ALSO DEVELOPED IN WESTERN PEORIA COUNTY BETWEEN
BRIMFIELD AND PEORIA.

MOVEMENT HAD NOT YET BEEN DETERMINED ON THESE NEW SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
BUT THEY ARE PROBABLY MOVING EAST AT 15 TO 20 MPH.
JACOBS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 14, 10:38 AM CDTTornado WarningILXTazewell67 min
May 14, 11:12 AM CDTTornado WarningILXDeWitt, Macon63 min
May 14, 11:14 AM CDTTornado WarningILXMcLean61 min
May 14, 12:15 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMcLean35 min
May 14, 12:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXLogan, Macon59 min
May 14, 12:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXChampaign57 min
May 14, 1:20 PM CDTTornado WarningILXColes, Douglas, Moultrie25 min
May 14, 2:48 PM CDTTornado WarningILXClark27 min
May 14, 3:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXBureau60 min
May 14, 4:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMacoupin, Montgomery, Sangamon44 min
May 14, 5:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMacoupin, Montgomery52 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 1991Every tornado warning in 1991Tornadoes in 1991

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.