Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Lincoln, IL

April 18, 1996Fulton County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this tornado warning at Apr 18, 1996, 6:26 PM CDT for Fulton County, Illinois. It was in force for 49 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
Apr 18, 1996, 6:26 PM CDT (23:26 UTC)
Expired
Apr 18, 1996, 7:15 PM CDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Lincoln, IL
Area
Whole counties

County Fulton County, IL

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:25 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
Apr 18, 7:09 PM CDTHail 1.75Ipava/Lewistown, 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 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 130 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 12:00Z on 1996-04-18Temperature 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, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 1996-04-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 278 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1782 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
278 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
276 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 182328
TORSPI
ILC057-190015-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
626 PM CDT THU APR 18 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LINCOLN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  715 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS
 
   ...FULTON COUNTY
 
AT 625PM...RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR MARIETTA. THE STORM
WAS MOVING TO THE EAST-NORTHEAST 40 MPH. TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM
INCLUDE CHECKROW...CUBA AND CANTON. THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF
PRODUCING GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY!
$$
 
KETCHAM
 
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 18, 5:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXSchuyler33 min
Apr 18, 6:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXSchuyler33 min
Apr 18, 6:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXCass, Morgan, Scott23 min
Apr 18, 6:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXCass, Mason, Menard62 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.