Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 12, NWS St. Louis, MO

May 18, 1995Saint Clair County, Illinois

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this tornado warning at May 18, 1995, 12:38 PM CDT for Saint Clair County, Illinois. It was in force for 52 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 18, 1995, 12:38 PM CDT (17:38 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1995, 1:30 PM CDT
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS St. Louis, MO
Area
Whole counties

County Saint Clair County, IL

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 70 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:41 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 18, 12:46 PM CDTTornado F0Millstadt, ILA tornado touched down briefly damaging one outbuilding and knocking down several large trees.

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

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 5.6 hours before the alert went out and 219 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, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 1995-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 1995-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 256 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
507 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
76 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
256 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
346 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSTL 181740
TORSTL
ILC163-181830-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
1238 PM CDT THU MAY 18 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  130 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS
 
   ...ST CLAIR COUNTY
 
AT 1237 PM...A TORNADO WAS JUST SOUTHEAST OF WATERLOO. THE STORM WAS
MOVING TO THE EAST-NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. DAMAGE HAS BEEN REPORTED. THE TO
SNEW ATHENS AND DARMDSTADT...LENZBERG ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM.
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY AND SEEK SHELTER
NOW!
 
 
 
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 11:56 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLSXClinton, Madison, Monroe, Randolph, Saint Clair, Washington4 hr
May 17, 11:56 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLSXJefferson, Perry4 hr
May 17, 11:56 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLSXEffingham, Fayette4 hr
May 17, 11:56 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLSXBond4 hr
May 17, 11:56 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLSXCalhoun, Jersey4 hr
May 17, 11:56 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLSXMarion4 hr
May 18, 12:19 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXMonroe41 min
May 18, 12:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXRandolph51 min
May 18, 1:03 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXWashington27 min
May 18, 1:12 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXClinton42 min
May 18, 1:19 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXRandolph35 min
May 18, 1:22 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXWashington32 min
May 18, 1:35 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXJefferson, Marion40 min
May 18, 1:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXPerry24 min
May 18, 2:02 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXFayette27 min
May 18, 2:02 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXEffingham43 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.