Alert archive / Illinois / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 5, NWS Lincoln, IL

January 18, 1996McLean County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 18, 1996, 11:24 AM CST for McLean County, Illinois. It was in force for 46 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
Jan 18, 1996, 11:24 AM CST (17:24 UTC)
Expired
Jan 18, 1996, 12:10 PM CST
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Lincoln, IL
Area
Whole counties

County McLean County, IL

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 56 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:25 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
Jan 18, 11:35 AM CSTThunderstorm WindCooksville, IL

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.

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 5.4 hours before the alert went out and 43 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 1996-01-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 1996-01-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 622 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
679 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
622 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
786 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 KSPI 181726
SVRSPI
ILC113-181810-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
1124 AM CST THU JAN 18 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LINCOLN HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1210 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS

   ...EASTERN MC LEAN COUNTY
 
AT 1120 AM CST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM 10 MILES NORTHEAST OF BLOOMINGTON TO 10
MILES SOUTHEAST OF BLOOMINGTON. THESE STORMS PRODUCED WINDS IN
EXCESS OF 60 MPH AS THEY PASSED OVER THE BLOOMINGTON AIRPORT.

THE STORMS ARE MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH AND WILL BE MOVING THROUGH THE
TOWNS OF LEXINGTON AND LEROY.

THESE ARE DANGEROUS STORMS...CAPABLE OF BLOWING DOWN TREES AND
DAMAGING ROOFS AND WINDOWS. GET INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING AND STAY
AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

$$
GEELHART/HEDGES
 

&

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Lincoln, IL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jan 18, 9:51 AM CST, 1 hour 33 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 18, 9:51 AM CST, 1 hour 33 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
950 AM CST THU JAN 18 1996

AS OF 15Z...CF HAS MOVED THRU THE WRN PTNS OF IL AND WAS ABOUT TO MOV
THRU SPI AND PIA.  BEARDSTOWN IN CASS CO (ALONG THE IL RVR) DROPPED
FROM 62 TO 35 IN ABOUT A HALF HOUR AS THE FRONT MOVED THRU AROUND 830
AM.  A LINE OF STRONG TRWS HAS DEVELOPED OVR C IL AND IS RAPIDLY MOVG
TO THE NORTH AT 50 MPH AS IT MAKES ITS WAY SLOWLY TO THE EAST.

BELIEVE RW/TRW WILL CHANGE OVER TO A MIX OF ZR/IP/S OVER MOST OF C IL
WHILE EC IL WILL CONT TO EXPERIENCE RW/TRW THRU THE EARLY AFTERNOON
HOURS.

PLEASE UPDATE THE ZONES TO REFLECT THE ABOVE CHANGES.

PIA  25/06 +6
SPI  25/06 +5
DEC  61/07 +5
CMI  60/08 +5

BYR~D

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 18, 10:13 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXChristian47 min
Jan 18, 10:34 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXEffingham, Macon, Shelby56 min
Jan 18, 10:44 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXDeWitt46 min
Jan 18, 11:11 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMoultrie, Piatt49 min
Jan 18, 11:28 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXColes, Cumberland, Douglas62 min
Jan 18, 11:28 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXChampaign62 min
Jan 18, 11:51 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXClark, Edgar, Vermilion59 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Illinois, 1996Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1996

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.