Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1992
Tornado Warning 7, NWS Chicago, IL
NWS Chicago, IL issued this tornado warning at Jul 8, 1992, 4:23 PM CDT for Cook County, Illinois; Lake County, Indiana. It was in force for 37 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Jul 8, 1992, 4:23 PM CDT (21:23 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 8, 1992, 5:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 37 min
- Issued by
- NWS Chicago, IL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Cook County, IL, Lake County, IN
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 8, 4:45 PM CDT | Hail 0.88 | Lake, IN |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.
The nearest sounding before it
Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 12:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 315 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 202 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -45 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 563 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 32 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 57 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 70 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KCHI 082125 TORCHI ILC031-INC089-082200- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 423 PM CDT WED JUL 8 1992 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHICAGO HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 500 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN NORTHEAST ILLINOIS ...SOUTHERN COOK COUNTY AND THE ADJACENT WATERS OF SOUTHERN LAKE MICHIGAN IN NORTHWEST INDIANA ...NORTHERN LAKE COUNTY AND THE ADJACENT WATERS OF SOUTHERN LAKE MICHIGAN AT 4 25 PM CDT RADAR AND SPOTTERS INDICATED A TORNADO DEVELOPING IN SOUTHERN COOK COUNTY...NEAR CHICAGO HEIGHTS...OR ABOUT 15 MILES WEST OF GARY INDIANA. COMMUNITIES IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE STEGER...SAUK VILLAGE...DYER...AND MERRILLVILLE. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON 8THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. GET AWAY FROM WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOME FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT. ATTN:ISP DIST 4...15 MERZLOCK
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, Jul 8, 11:14 AM CDT, 5 hours 9 minutes before
ILZ003-091000- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 1115 AM CDT WED JUL 8 1992 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEVERE STORMS FORECAST CENTER IN KANSAS CITY SAYS THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS MOST OF ILLINOIS THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY TONIGHT. LEBDA
Special weather statement, Jul 8, 3:28 PM CDT, 55 minutes before
ILZ003-005-007-008-INZ001-082130- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 327 PM CDT WED JUL 8 1992 ...A LONE THUNDERSTORM HAD DEVELOPED NEAR AUROURA AT MID-AFTERNOON... AT 320 PM...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A NEWLY DEVELOPED THUNDERSTORM JUST SOUTH OF AURORA NEAR MONTGOMERY ON THE KANE/KENDALL COUNTY LINES. THIS STORM WILL LIKELY MOVE EAST AT 40 MPH TO BETWEEN BOLINGBROOK AND NAPERVILLE BY 345 PM. GUSTY WINDS...HAIL...BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND DEADLY CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING CAN BE EXPECTED AS THE THUNDERSTORM MOVES OVERHEAD. THE ATMOSPHERE IS VERY UNSTABLE ACROSS NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND METROPOLITAN CHICAGO THIS AFTERNOON. PERSONS IN NORTHEAST ILLINOIS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR RAPID THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. LISTEN TO LOCAL T.V. AND RADIO STATIONS AND NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS. DARMOFAL
Special weather statement, Jul 8, 3:51 PM CDT, 32 minutes before
ILZ003-005-007-008-INZ001-082200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 348 PM CDT WED JUL 8 1992 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVLOPING RAPIDLY ACROSS NORTHEAST ILLINOIS... AT 345 PM...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER NORTHWEST WILL COUNTY NEAR PLAINFIELD...AND OVER LASALLE COUNTY NEAR WALTHAM OR ABOUT 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF OTTAWA. MOVEMENT WAS EAST-SOUTHEAST AT 40 MPH. PERSONS IN NORTHWEST WILL AND SOUTHWEST COOK COUNTIES INCLUDING PLAINFIELD... ROMEOVILLE AND LEMONT...AND PERSONS IN LASALLE COUNTY SHOULD PREPARE FOR STRONG WINDS...HAIL...BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND DEADLY CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AS THE THUNDERSTORM MOVES OVERHEAD. THE ATMOSPHERE IS VERY UNSTABLE ACROSS NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND METROPOLITAN CHICAGO THIS AFTERNOON. PERSONS IN NORTHEAST ILLINOIS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR RAPID THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. LISTEN TO LOCAL T.V. AND RADIO STATIONS AND NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. DARMOFAL
Special weather statement, Jul 8, 4:11 PM CDT, 12 minutes before
ILZ003-005-007-008-INZ001-082200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 410 PM CDT WED JUL 8 1992 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED TO THE SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST OF CHICAGO... AT 4 05 PM...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS OVER NORTHWEST WILL COUNTY EAST OF LOCKPORT MOVING EAST-SOUTHEAST AT 40 MPH. THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL LIKELY MOVE ACROSS FAR SOUTHERN COOK COUNTY NEAR ORLAND PARK...TINLEY PARK...AND PARK FOREST THROUGH 430 PM. OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER LASALLE COUNTY NEAR OTTAWA...AND OVER LIVINGSTON COUNTY 15 MILES EAST OF PONTIAC NEAR CULLOM. THESE STORMS WERE ALSO MOVING EAST-SOUTHEAST AT 40 MPH. PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS ACROSS NORTHEAST. ILLINOIS SHOULD PREPARE FOR STRONG WINDS...HAIL...AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN. LISTEN TO LOCAL T.V. AND RADIO STATIONS FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. DARMOFAL
The office that day
Everything else NWS Chicago, IL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 8, 4:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LOT | Cook | 40 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 1992Tornado Warnings in Indiana, 1992Every tornado warning in 1992Tornadoes in 1992
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.