Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 23, NWS Lincoln, IL

April 19, 1996Champaign County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this tornado warning at Apr 19, 1996, 7:55 PM CDT for Champaign County, Illinois. It was in force for 50 min. 4 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, 7:55 PM CDT (00:55 UTC)
Expired: Apr 19, 1996, 8:45 PM CDT
In force: 50 min
Issued by: NWS Lincoln, IL
Area: Whole counties

County Champaign County, IL

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 97 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:54 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
Apr 19, 8:30 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Champaign, IL
Apr 19, 8:34 PM CDT	Tornado F3	Savoy, IL
Apr 19, 8:34 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 65	(Cmi)Willard Fld Cha, IL
Apr 19, 8:55 PM CDT	Tornado F3	Ogden, 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, 0.9 hours before the alert went out and 34 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: 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 200057
TORSPI
ILC019-200145-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LINCOLN IL HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 845 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS

   ...CHAMPAIGN COUNTY
 
AT 754 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO LOCATED NEAR
BEMENT.

THE STORM WAS MOVING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH AND SHOULD MOVE
INTO CHAMPAIGN AND TOLONO BY 815 PM AND SIDNEY BY 830 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

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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 tornado warning went out at Apr 19, 2:12 PM CDT, 5 hours 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 19, 2:12 PM CDT, 5 hours 43 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
210 PM CDT FRI APR 19 1996

18Z SFC ANALYSIS SHOWS DEEPENING AREA OF LOW PRESS NOW CNTRD OVR SERN
NE.  50 DEWPTS WERE NOW AS FAR NORTH AS C IL WITH 60S AS CLOSE AS STL
AND LWV.

EXPECT TRW TO DEVELOP ACROSS ERN MO AND MOV INTO WRN IL LATE THIS
AFTERNOON.  TEMPS ARE IN THE LOW TO MID 70S AND COULD RISE A LITTLE
MORE. CAPS ARE ERODING ACCORDING TO ADAP WITH A CAP OF 2 DEGREES OR
LESS ACROXSS SRN AND ERN PTNS OF CWA.

CURRENT FORECAST LOOKS GOOD JUST A FEW MINOR ADJUSTMENTS NEEDED.

PIA  52/69  30
SPI  55/70  50
DEC  55/69  50
CMI  54/69  50

BYRD

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 19, 7:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	McLean	42 min
Apr 19, 7:17 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Stark	28 min
Apr 19, 7:20 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Macon	40 min
Apr 19, 7:30 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	McLean	45 min
Apr 19, 7:42 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Piatt	33 min
Apr 19, 7:48 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Clay	57 min
Apr 19, 8:36 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Vermilion	54 min
Apr 19, 8:42 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Champaign	33 min
Apr 19, 8:43 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Clay, Richland	47 min
Apr 19, 9:24 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Lawrence	51 min

Nearby

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