Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Lincoln, IL

April 18, 1996Macon County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this tornado warning at Apr 18, 1996, 9:03 PM CDT for Macon County, Illinois. It was in force for 27 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, 9:03 PM CDT (02:03 UTC)
Expired
Apr 18, 1996, 9:30 PM CDT
In force
27 min
Issued by
NWS Lincoln, IL
Area
Whole counties

County Macon County, IL

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 45 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:06 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, 9:05 PM CDTTornado F1Decatur, 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, 2.1 hours before the alert went out and 45 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 1996-04-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 637 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1996-04-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 124 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
637 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-124 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1032 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
124 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
156 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSPI 190216
TORSPI
ILC115-190230-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
903 PM CDT THU APR 18 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LINCOLN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  930 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS
 
   ...EASTERN MACON COUNTY
 
AT 901PM...RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR DECATUR. THE STORM
WAS MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. TOWNS IN THE PATH INCLUDE ZDECATUR AND OAKLEY.
 
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!
$$
 
KETCHAM

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 18, 7:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMorgan23 min
Apr 18, 7:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXFulton30 min
Apr 18, 7:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXSangamon66 min
Apr 18, 7:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXTazewell46 min
Apr 18, 8:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXSangamon33 min
Apr 18, 8:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMacon58 min
Apr 18, 8:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXDeWitt50 min
Apr 18, 9:22 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMoultrie, Piatt38 min
Apr 18, 9:46 PM CDTTornado WarningILXChampaign, Douglas29 min
Apr 18, 10:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXColes, Douglas40 min
Apr 19, 3:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMoultrie, Shelby35 min
Apr 19, 4:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXColes, Douglas45 min
Apr 19, 4:14 PM CDTTornado WarningILXColes, Douglas31 min
Apr 19, 4:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXPeoria, Woodford49 min
Apr 19, 4:44 PM CDTTornado WarningILXColes, Douglas, Edgar46 min
Apr 19, 4:51 PM CDTTornado WarningILXPeoria, Woodford49 min
Apr 19, 4:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMcLean38 min
Apr 19, 5:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXFulton, Schuyler57 min
Apr 19, 5:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXKnox64 min
Apr 19, 5:36 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMorgan, Scott39 min
Apr 19, 5:57 PM CDTTornado WarningILXFulton, Mason48 min
Apr 19, 6:07 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMarshall, Peoria, Stark53 min
Apr 19, 6:14 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMorgan, Sangamon46 min
Apr 19, 6:33 PM CDTTornado WarningILXLogan, Tazewell42 min
Apr 19, 6:59 PM CDTTornado WarningILXSangamon31 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.