Alert archive / Illinois / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1991

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 9, NWS St. Louis, MO

March 17, 1991Madison County, Illinois

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 17, 1991, 4:20 PM CST for Madison County, Illinois. It was in force for 25 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 17, 1991, 4:20 PM CST (22:20 UTC)
Expired
Mar 17, 1991, 4:45 PM CST
In force
25 min
Issued by
NWS St. Louis, MO
Area
Whole counties

County Madison County, IL

The nearest sounding before it

Paducah/Barkley, KY (KPAH), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 222 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 1991-03-17Temperature 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 1991-03-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 201 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1176 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
201 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
251 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 KSTL 172219
SVRSTL
ILC119-133-163-MOC099-172300-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
420 PM CST SUN MAR 17 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  500 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS
 
   ...MADISON COUNTY...MONROE COUNTY...ST CLAIR COUNTY
 
 
IN EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI
 
   ...NORTHERN JEFFERSON COUNTY
 
AT 410 PM...RADAR INDICATED A SHORT LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAD
DEVELOPED RAPIDLY FROM 15 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF ST LOUIS TO 10
MILES EAST OF ST LOUIS. THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH. THESE
STORMS WILL PASS JUST THROUGH THE THE EAST ST LOUIS AND BELLEVILLE
AREAS.
 
LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE EXPECTED.
 
 
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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, Mar 17, 12:22 PM CST, 3 hours 58 minutes before
MOZ010-171915-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA MO
1220 PM CST SUN MAR 17 1991

...A NARROW BAND OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS
CENTRAL MISSOURI...

AT 1220 PM A NARROW BAND OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS 5 MILES WIDE
EXTENDED FROM 5 MILES NORTHEAST OF THE CITY OF COLUMBIA TO
JEFFERSON CITY MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR. THESE
THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCED PEA SIZED HAIL JUST WEST OF COLUMBIA
AT NOON...AND BRIEF GUSTY WINDS OF 40 TO 45 MILES AN HOUR.
A SHORT PERIOD OF VERY HEAVY RAIN ALSO ACCOMPANIED THESE
THUNDERSTORM AS THEY MOVED NORTHEAST.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE THROUGH CALLAWAY AND AUDRAIN COUNTIES
BETWEEN 1220 AND 100 PM THIS AFTERNOON.

LA GREE
]
Local storm report, Mar 17, 2:20 PM CST, 2 hours before
MO010-172030-

PRELIMINARY STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA MO
215 PM CST SUN MAR 17 1991

TIME         COUNTY    REPORT
1150 AM      BOONE     PEA SIZED HAIL 5 MILES WEST OF COLUMBIA.

1250 PM      CALLAWAY  GOLF BALL SIZED HAIL REPORTED AT GASPERS TRUCK
                       PLAZA IN KINGDOM CITY.

100 PM       AUDRAIN    PEA TO MARBLE SIZED HAIL NEAR MEXICO.

120 PM       MONTGOMERY 1/2 TO 3/4 INCH HAIL COMPLETELY COVERED THE
                        GROUND IN AND AROUND MONTGOMERY CITY.

147 PM       MONTGOMERY 3/4 INCH HAIL PELTING HIGH HILL. POWER LINES
                        DOWN.

LA GREE
Special weather statement, Mar 17, 2:34 PM CST, 1 hour 46 minutes before
MOZ010-011-012-013-014-017-018-171000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
225 PM CST SUN MAR 17 1991

...THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING JUST WEST OF ST LOUIS...

THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING SINCE 130 PM TO THE WEST OF
ST LOUIS IN WESTERN WARREN AND NORTHWEST FRANKLIN COUNTIES.

AT 225 PM THE HEAVIEST STORMS WERE JUST WEET OF WARRENTON AND ABOUT
10 MILES WEST OF WASHINGTON MISSOURI.  SIMILAR STORMS FURTHER NORTH AND
WEST SPEWED SMALL HAIL WHICH COVERED THE GROUND.

THESE STORMS WILL BE MOVING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.  PERSONS
IN THE COMMUNITIES OF WENTZVILLE AND LAKE ST LOUIS ALONG INTERSTATE
70 WILL BE IN THE PATH OF THE NORTHERN STORM...WHILE THE COMMUNITIES
OF WASHINGTON AND AUGUSTA..AS WELL AS POSSIBLY BABLER STATE PARK WILL
BE NEAREST THE SOUTHERN STORM.
KEEP ABREAST OF LATEST WEATHER DEVELOPMENTS IN YOUR AREA AND STAY
TUNED FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE.

PEDIGO

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 17, 4:20 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMonroe, Saint Clair25 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Illinois, 1991Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.