Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 16, NWS St. Louis, MO

April 28, 1994Randolph County, Illinois

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this tornado warning at Apr 28, 1994, 12:22 PM CDT for Randolph County, Illinois. It was in force for 38 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: Apr 28, 1994, 12:22 PM CDT (17:22 UTC)
Expired: Apr 28, 1994, 1:00 PM CDT
In force: 38 min
Issued by: NWS St. Louis, MO
Area: Whole counties

County Randolph County, IL

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 104 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:23 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 28, 12:30 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Ruma To, IL	A tornado touched down north of Ruma and moved northeast before lifting near Baldwin. The damage path was intermittent but Illinois State Police troopers followed it and observed numerous trees blown down and a few farm buildings damaged.

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

Paducah/Barkley, KY (KPAH), launched 12:00Z, 5.4 hours before the alert went out and 147 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: 17 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -408 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1344 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 215 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 314 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 281722
TORSTL
ILC157-281800-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
1222 PM CDT THU APR 28 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  100 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS
 
   ...RANDOLPH COUNTY
 
AT 1221 PM...RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR 5 MILES NORTHWEST
OF STE GENEVIEVE MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.
 
IF YOU LIVE IN PRAIRE DU ROCHER AND RED BUD SEEK SHELTER NOW!
 
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 27, 7:05 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Monroe	40 min
Apr 28, 3:03 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LSX	Madison	5 hr
Apr 28, 5:55 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LSX	Madison	4 hr
Apr 28, 6:35 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LSX	Monroe, Saint Clair	4 hr
Apr 28, 10:45 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LSX	Monroe, Saint Clair	3 hr
Apr 28, 12:40 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LSX	Washington	50 min
Apr 28, 12:40 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LSX	Saint Clair	24 min
Apr 28, 1:00 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LSX	Randolph	23 min
Apr 28, 1:00 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LSX	Perry	45 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.