Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 21, NWS Lincoln, IL

April 19, 1996Piatt County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this tornado warning at Apr 19, 1996, 7:42 PM CDT for Piatt County, Illinois. It was in force for 33 min. 2 reports 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 19, 1996, 7:42 PM CDT (00:42 UTC)
Expired
Apr 19, 1996, 8:15 PM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Lincoln, IL
Area
Whole counties

County Piatt County, IL

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 65 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:42 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
Apr 19, 7:55 PM CDTTornado F1Milmine, IL
Apr 19, 8:00 PM CDTTornado F1Monticello, 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 00:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 16 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 00:00Z on 1996-04-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1505 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1996-04-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 213 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
1505 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-39 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
765 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
213 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
268 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.4
Supercell composite
11.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSPI 200041
TORSPI
ILC147-200115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
742 PM CDT FRI APR 19 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LINCOLN IL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 815 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS

   ...PIATT COUNTY
 
AT 740 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO LOCATED OVER
DECATUR.

THE STORM WAS MOVING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AT 40 MPHt AND SHOULD MOVE
INTO CERRO GORDO AND BEMENT BY 750 PM

TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IN A BASEMENT OR INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR. ABANDON MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES FOR SAFER SHELTER.
ACT NOW TO SAVE YOUR LIFE!
$$

BYRD

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 19, 7:03 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMcLean42 min
Apr 19, 7:17 PM CDTTornado WarningILXStark28 min
Apr 19, 7:20 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMacon40 min
Apr 19, 7:30 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMcLean45 min
Apr 19, 7:48 PM CDTTornado WarningILXClay57 min
Apr 19, 7:55 PM CDTTornado WarningILXChampaign50 min
Apr 19, 8:36 PM CDTTornado WarningILXVermilion54 min
Apr 19, 8:42 PM CDTTornado WarningILXChampaign33 min
Apr 19, 8:43 PM CDTTornado WarningILXClay, Richland47 min
Apr 19, 9:24 PM CDTTornado WarningILXLawrence51 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes 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.