Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 28, NWS Lincoln, IL

May 9, 1996Knox County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this tornado warning at May 9, 1996, 8:45 PM CDT for Knox County, Illinois. It was in force for 45 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, 1996, 8:45 PM CDT (01:45 UTC)
Expired
May 9, 1996, 9:30 PM CDT
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Lincoln, IL
Area
Whole counties

County Knox County, IL

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:45 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 9, 9:14 PM CDTHail 1.75Oneida, 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

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 00:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 80 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, Davenport, at 00:00Z on 1996-05-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 552 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, Davenport, at 00:00Z on 1996-05-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -13 square meters per square second.1939587897117136156175Sfc1 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
552 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-63 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
696 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-495 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.2
Supercell composite
-2.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSPI 100145
TORSPI
ILC095-100230-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
845 PM CDT THU MAY 9 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LINCOLN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  930 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS
 
   ...NORTHERN KNOX COUNTY
 
AT 845 PM CDT...A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY RADAR JUST WEST OF RIO...
11 MILES NORTH OF GALESBURG. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.
SOME TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE RIO...ONTARIO...
SOPERVILLE AND ALTONA.
 
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!
$$
 
MILLER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 9, 9:23 PM CDTTornado WarningILXKnox52 min
May 9, 9:52 PM CDTTornado WarningILXPeoria, Stark53 min
May 10, 2:46 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXKnox44 min
May 10, 4:38 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXLogan, Menard32 min
May 10, 7:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXShelby30 min
May 10, 7:47 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMoultrie43 min
May 10, 11:27 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningILXMoultrie, Shelby3 hr
May 10, 12:15 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningILXDouglas, Vermilion6 hr

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.