Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1991

Tornado Warning 35, NWS Lincoln, IL

December 8, 1991Champaign County, Piatt County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this tornado warning at Dec 8, 1991, 4:38 PM CST for Champaign County, Piatt County, Illinois. It was in force for 27 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Dec 8, 1991, 4:38 PM CST (22:38 UTC)
Expired
Dec 8, 1991, 5:05 PM CST
In force
27 min
Issued by
NWS Lincoln, IL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Champaign County, IL, Piatt County, IL

The nearest sounding before it

Paducah/Barkley, KY (KPAH), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 335 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 1991-12-08Temperature 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, Paducah/Barkley, KY at 12:00Z on 1991-12-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 294 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
294 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
278 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 082238
TORSPI
ILC019-147-082315-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD IL
438 PM CST SUN DEC 8 1991

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 515 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE EAST CENTRAL PART OF ILLINOIS
      SOUTHERN CHAMPAIGN...

   IN THE CENTRAL PART OF ILLINOIS
      EASTERN PIATT...

 AT 432 PM CST...CHAMPAIGN EMERGENCY SERVICES REPORTED A TORNADO ON
 THE GROUND NEAR BEMENT ILLINOIS IN EASTERN PIATT COUNTY.

 THE TORNADO WAS MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

 TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE BEMENT...IVESDALE...DIRKVILL
E
...SADORUS..TOLONO AND PESOTUM.

DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS.  IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF
A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING.  IF NO
STRUCTURE IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.  IF YOU ARE IN
THE PATH OF THIS STORM MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF AVAILABLE.
ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO
A DITCH OR CULVERT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

 ATTN ISP DIST...10
 HILLIARD

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, Dec 8, 1:53 PM CST, 2 hours 45 minutes before
ILZ010-082100-

SHORT RANGE FORECAST FOR CENTRAL AND EASTCENTRAL ILLINOIS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD IL
1 52 PM CST SUN DEC 8 1991

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR CENTRAL ILLINOIS UNTIL 6 00 PM CST...

AT 1 45 PM...A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS OVER NORTH CENTRAL AND
WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS FROM PEORIA TO 35 MILES NORTHWEST OF SPRINGFIELD
NEAR HAVANA TO 20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF QUINCY.  THE LINE OF STORMS WAS
MOVING TO THE EAST SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH AND WILL BE FROM BETWEEN PEORIA
AND BLOOMINGTON TO THE WEST EDGE OF SPRINGFIELD TO NORTHWEST OF ST.
LOUIS BY AROUND 3 PM.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE BRIEF DAMAGING WINDS...HAIL...DEADLY
LIGHTNING AND A BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOUR OF RAIN.  YOU SHOULD TAKE SHELTER
IN A SUBSTANTIAL BUILDING AS THESE STORMS APPROACH.  DO NOT USE THE
TELEPHONE OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES WHEN LIGHTNING IS NEAR.  WAIT A
FEW MINUTES UNTIL THE STORMS HAVE PASSED.
PALMER
Special weather statement, Dec 8, 1:54 PM CST, 2 hours 44 minutes before
ILZ010-082100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD IL
1 52 PM CST SUN DEC 8 1991

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR CENTRAL ILLINOIS UNTIL 6 00 PM CST...

AT 1 45 PM...A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS OVER NORTH CENTRAL AND
WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS FROM PEORIA TO 35 MILES NORTHWEST OF SPRINGFIELD
NEAR HAVANA TO 20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF QUINCY.  THE LINE OF STORMS WAS
MOVING TO THE EAST SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH AND WILL BE FROM BETWEEN PEORIA
AND BLOOMINGTON TO THE WEST EDGE OF SPRINGFIELD TO NORTHWEST OF ST.
LOUIS BY AROUND 3 PM.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE BRIEF DAMAGING WINDS...HAIL...DEADLY
LIGHTNING AND A BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOUR OF RAIN.  YOU SHOULD TAKE SHELTER
IN A SUBSTANTIAL BUILDING AS THESE STORMS APPROACH.  DO NOT USE THE
TELEPHONE OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES WHEN LIGHTNING IS NEAR.  WAIT A
FEW MINUTES UNTIL THE STORMS HAVE PASSED.
PALMER
Local storm report, Dec 8, 3:16 PM CST, 1 hour 22 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEORIA IL
315 PM CST SUN DEC 8 1991

STORM REPORTS FOR THIS AFTERNOON...

AT 2:20 PM CST... BASEBALL SIZED HAIL AT MANITO IN NORTHEAST MASON
COUNTY.

AT 2:21 PM CST... 1 INCH HAIL REPORTED AT PRINCEVILLE IN NORTHERN
PEORIA COUNTY.

AT 2:22 PM CST... GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL 2 MILES SOUTH OF TREMONT IN
TAZEWELL COUNTY.

AT 2:29 PM CST... BASEBALL SIZE HAIL DAMAGING VEHICLES NEAR TREMONT
IN TAZEWELL COUNTY.

JACOBS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 8, 1:48 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXFulton, Mason42 min
Dec 8, 2:14 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXCass, Menard46 min
Dec 8, 2:20 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMcLean, Tazewell, Woodford40 min
Dec 8, 2:36 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXLogan39 min
Dec 8, 3:23 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXDeWitt, Logan, Macon67 min
Dec 8, 3:23 PM CSTTornado WarningILXMcLean37 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.