Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Lincoln, IL

April 26, 1994Douglas County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this tornado warning at Apr 26, 1994, 9:37 PM CDT for Douglas County, Illinois. It was in force for 38 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Apr 26, 1994, 9:37 PM CDT (02:37 UTC)
Expired: Apr 26, 1994, 10:15 PM CDT
In force: 38 min
Issued by: NWS Lincoln, IL
Area: Whole counties

County Douglas County, IL

The nearest sounding before it

Paducah/Barkley, KY (KPAH), launched 00:00Z, 2.6 hours before the alert went out and 303 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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 270237
TORSPI
ILC041-270315-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD IL
937 PM CDT TUE APR 26 1994

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1015 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE EAST CENTRAL PART OF ILLINOIS
      DOUGLAS

AT 932 PM CDT...THE ILLINOIS STATE POLICE REPORTED A TORNADO 2
MILES SOUTH OF ARCOLA...25 MILES SOUTH OF CHAMPAIGN.

THE TORNADO WAS MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

THE FOLLOWING TOWNS ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...ARCOLA...
VILLA GROVE...CAMARGO AND NEWMAN.

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 THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE...AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH CUSHIONS OR PILLOWS.
IF YOU ARE IN A MOBILE HOME OR VEHICLE...OR IF YOU ARE CAUGHT
OUTSIDE AZND A TORNADO IS APPROACHING...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY
REINFORCED BUILDING.  IF NONE IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN A
CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

MCCOY

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, 5 hours 20 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, 5 hours 14 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 26, 7:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Christian	44 min
Apr 26, 7:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	McLean, Tazewell, Woodford	42 min
Apr 26, 7:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Macon	54 min
Apr 26, 7:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Christian	30 min
Apr 26, 7:52 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Macon, Shelby	38 min
Apr 26, 8:28 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Christian	19 min
Apr 26, 8:28 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Macon, Moultrie, Shelby	47 min
Apr 26, 8:51 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Macoupin, Montgomery	61 min
Apr 26, 9:04 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	McLean	41 min
Apr 26, 9:08 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Coles, Douglas, Moultrie	52 min
Apr 26, 9:34 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Christian, Macon, Sangamon	41 min
Apr 26, 10:11 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Champaign, Piatt	44 min
Apr 26, 10:11 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	DeWitt	44 min
Apr 26, 10:11 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Montgomery	34 min
Apr 26, 10:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Edgar, Vermilion	30 min

Nearby

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