Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1995
Tornado Warning 1, NWS Chicago, IL
NWS Chicago, IL issued this tornado warning at May 9, 1995, 6:17 PM CDT for Lee County, Illinois. It was in force for 43 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
- May 9, 1995, 6:17 PM CDT (23:17 UTC)
- Expired
- May 9, 1995, 7:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 43 min
- Issued by
- NWS Chicago, IL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Lee County, IL
The radar
The Chicago radar (KLOT), 102 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 9, 6:25 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Harmon, IL | State Police reported a tornado on the ground southwest of Harmon. No damage was reported. Golf ball-size hail fell near Dixon. |
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
Davenport, (KDVN), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 101 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
- 142 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -25 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 719 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 40 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 19 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 43 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KCHI 092321 COR TORCHI ILC103-100000- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING...CORRECTED TO INCLUDE MOVEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 617 PM CDT TUE MAY 9 1995 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHICAGO HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS ...WESTERN LEE COUNTY AT 615 PM DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH REPORTS OF FUNNEL CLOUDS NEAR WALNUT OR ABOUT 20 MILES SOUTH-SOUTHWEST OF DIXON IN BUREAU COUNTY. THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTH AT 30 MPH...SOME TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE HARMON...NELSON...DIXON AND WALTON. ABANDON MOBILE HOMES! GO INSIDE A NEARBY STURDY BUILDING! AS A LAST RESORT LIE FLAT IN A DITCH AND COVER YOUR HEAD. IF YOU ARE IN A CAR...GO INSIDE A NEARBY STURDY BUILDING! AS A LAST RESORT LIE FLAT IN A DITCH AND COVER YOUR HEAD. GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR! & CONSIDINE
The office that day
Everything else NWS Chicago, IL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 9, 6:48 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LOT | DeKalb, Kane, Kendall, LaSalle | 57 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 1995Every tornado warning in 1995Tornadoes in 1995
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.