Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Lincoln, IL

April 26, 1994Macon County, Shelby County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this tornado warning at Apr 26, 1994, 7:52 PM CDT for Macon County, Shelby County, Illinois. It was in force for 38 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 26, 1994, 7:52 PM CDT (00:52 UTC)
Expired
Apr 26, 1994, 8:30 PM CDT
In force
38 min
Issued by
NWS Lincoln, IL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Macon County, IL, Shelby County, IL

The nearest sounding before it

Paducah/Barkley, KY (KPAH), launched 00:00Z, 0.9 hours before the alert went out and 285 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 00:00Z on 1994-04-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2999 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1994-04-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 128 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2999 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1036 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
128 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
139 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.8
Supercell composite
10.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSPI 270053
TORSPI
ILC115-173-270130-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD IL
752 PM CDT TUE APR 26 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SPRINGFIELD HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS
 
   ...SOUTHERN MACON COUNTY
 
IN EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS
 
   ...NORTHERN SHELBY COUNTY
 
AT 746 PM CDT...ILLINOIS STATE PATROL DISTRICT 10 REPORTED A FUNNEL
CLOUD LOCATED JUST SOUTHWEST OF MOWEAQUA...16 MILES SOUTH OF DECATUR.
 
THE STORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH AND SHOULD MOVE THROUGH
THE FOLLOWING TOWNS...MOWEAQUA...MACON...MT ZION AND LONG CREEK.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  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 THE LOWEST FLOOR
POSSIBLE...AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH CUSHIONS OR PILLOWS.
 
 
 
BYRD

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, Apr 26, 4:17 PM CDT, 3 hours 35 minutes before
ILZ029-031-037-261720-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEORIA IL
1115 AM CDT TUE APR 26 1994

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER CENTRAL ILLINOIS...

AROUND 415 PM...SEVERAL THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED OVER CENTRAL
WOODFORD COUNTY AND NORTHERN PEORIA COUNTY. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM
WAS OVER ROANOKE IN CENTRAL WOODFORD COUNTY. SMALL HAIL...GUSTY WINDS
AND HEAVY RAINS CAN BE EXPECTED AS THE STORMS MOVE TO THE NORTHEAST AT
50 MPH.

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED ACROSS THE REGION
THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON AND INTO EARLY EVENING. THE
THREAT OF RAINFALL WILL THEN BE ENDING AROUND MID EVENING.

BREESER
Special weather statement, Apr 26, 4:23 PM CDT, 3 hours 29 minutes before
ILZ029-031-037-262230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTION..
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PEORIA IL
420 PM CDT TUE APR 26 1994

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER CENTRAL ILLINOIS...

AROUND 415 PM...SEVERAL THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED OVER CENTRAL
WOODFORD COUNTY AND NORTHERN PEORIA COUNTY. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM
WAS OVER ROANOKE IN CENTRAL WOODFORD COUNTY. SMALL HAIL...GUSTY WINDS
AND HEAVY RAINS CAN BE EXPECTED AS THE STORMS MOVE TO THE NORTHEAST AT
50 MPH.

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED ACROSS THE REGION
THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON AND INTO EARLY EVENING. THE
THREAT OF RAINFALL WILL THEN BE ENDING AROUND MID EVENING.

BREESER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 26, 7:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXChristian44 min
Apr 26, 7:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMcLean, Tazewell, Woodford42 min
Apr 26, 7:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMacon54 min
Apr 26, 7:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXChristian30 min
Apr 26, 8:28 PM CDTTornado WarningILXChristian19 min
Apr 26, 8:28 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMacon, Moultrie, Shelby47 min
Apr 26, 8:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMacoupin, Montgomery61 min
Apr 26, 9:04 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMcLean41 min
Apr 26, 9:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXColes, Douglas, Moultrie52 min
Apr 26, 9:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXChristian, Macon, Sangamon41 min
Apr 26, 9:37 PM CDTTornado WarningILXDouglas38 min
Apr 26, 10:11 PM CDTTornado WarningILXChampaign, Piatt44 min
Apr 26, 10:11 PM CDTTornado WarningILXDeWitt44 min
Apr 26, 10:11 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMontgomery34 min
Apr 26, 10:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXEdgar, Vermilion30 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 1994Every tornado warning in 1994Tornadoes in 1994

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.