Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Chicago, IL

April 19, 1996LaSalle County, Livingston County, Illinois

NWS Chicago, IL issued this tornado warning at Apr 19, 1996, 5:30 PM CDT for LaSalle County, Livingston County, Illinois. It was in force for 45 min. 5 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, 5:30 PM CDT (22:30 UTC)
Expired
Apr 19, 1996, 6:15 PM CDT
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Chicago, IL
Area
Whole counties

Counties LaSalle County, IL, Livingston County, IL

The radar

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 76 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:31 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, 5:40 PM CDTTornado F1Rutland, IL
Apr 19, 5:50 PM CDTHail 0.75Streator, IL
Apr 19, 5:52 PM CDTHail 1Odell, IL
Apr 19, 5:58 PM CDTHail 1.75Reddick, IL
Apr 19, 6:03 PM CDTHail 3Campus, 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 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 108 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 12:00Z on 1996-04-19Temperature 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, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 1996-04-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 33 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2232 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
33 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
34 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 KCHI 192235 COR
TORCHI
ILC105-099-192315-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED....CORRECTION TO TIME
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
530 PM CDT FRI APR 19 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHICAGO HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHEAST ILLINOIS


   ...NORTHERN LIVINGSTON COUNTY...SOUTHERN LASALLE COUNTY...

AT 525 PM CDT DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR RUTLAND OR ABOUT 20
MILES NORTHWEST OF PONTIAC. THE STORM IS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35
MPH AND WILL BE PASSING NEAR THE COMMUNITIES OF
GARFIELD...STREATOR...RANSOM.
ABANDON MOBILE HOMES!  GO INSIDE A NEARBY STURDY BUILDING!
AS A LAST RESORT LIE FLAT 
IN A DITCH AND COVER YOUR HEAD.

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.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 19, 4:22 PM CDT, 1 hour 8 minutes before
ILZ019-021-192230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
423 PM CDT FRI APR 19 1996

AT 417 PM A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS FROM LASALLE TO STREATOR
IN LASALLE COUNTY. PEA SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED IN WENONA IN EXTREME
NORTHEAST MARSHALL COUNTY AS THE STORMS MOVED THROUGH. THESE STORMS
WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH AND WILL AFFECT OTTAWA BY 425
PM...SENECA BY 445 PM AND BOTH MORRIS AND YORKVILLE BY 515 PM.

TRS
Special weather statement, Apr 19, 4:24 PM CDT, 1 hour 6 minutes before
ILZ019>021-192230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
423 PM CDT FRI APR 19 1996

AT 417 PM A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS FROM LASALLE TO STREATOR
IN LASALLE COUNTY. PEA SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED IN WENONA IN EXTREME
NORTHEAST MARSHALL COUNTY AS THE STORMS MOVED THROUGH. THESE STORMS
WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH AND WILL AFFECT OTTAWA BY 425
PM...SENECA BY 445 PM AND BOTH MORRIS AND YORKVILLE BY 515 PM.

TRS
CORRECTED CODING

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 18, 7:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTDeKalb31 min
Apr 19, 4:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTLaSalle, Livingston51 min
Apr 19, 5:55 PM CDTTornado WarningLOTGrundy, Kankakee, Will50 min
Apr 19, 6:42 PM CDTTornado WarningLOTKankakee48 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.