Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Chicago, IL

April 19, 1996Kankakee County, Illinois

NWS Chicago, IL issued this tornado warning at Apr 19, 1996, 7:39 PM CDT for Kankakee County, Illinois. It was in force for 36 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 19, 1996, 7:39 PM CDT (00:39 UTC)
Expired
Apr 19, 1996, 8:15 PM CDT
In force
36 min
Issued by
NWS Chicago, IL
Area
Whole counties

County Kankakee County, IL

The radar

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 55 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:42 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 00:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 126 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 1996-04-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1505 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 1996-04-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 213 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
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 KCHI 200041
TORCHI
ILC091-200115-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
739 PM CDT FRI APR 19 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHICAGO HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  815 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHEAST ILLINOIS
 
   ...CENTRAL AND EASTERN KANKAKEE COUNTY
 
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY RADAR NEAR KANKAKEE WITH
INDICATIONS OF LARGE HAIL AND TORNADO WAS nREPORTED 12 MILES WEST OF
KANKAKEE AT 735 PM. THE STORM IS MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH AND WILL
ONCE AGAIN AFFECT KANKAKEE BETWEEN 745PM AND 8PM.
 
KML

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, 3 hours 17 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, 3 hours 15 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 19, 7:29 PM CDTTornado WarningLOTLaSalle, Livingston31 min
Apr 19, 8:05 PM CDTTornado WarningLOTLaSalle40 min
Apr 19, 8:22 PM CDTTornado WarningLOTGrundy, Will38 min
Apr 19, 9:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTGrundy, Kendall, Will29 min
Apr 19, 9:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTOgle, Winnebago25 min
Apr 19, 9:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTKankakee, Will26 min
Apr 19, 9:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTCook26 min
Apr 19, 9:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTOgle, Winnebago34 min
Apr 19, 10:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTKankakee, Will30 min
Apr 19, 10:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTCook30 min
Apr 19, 10:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTBoone, McHenry37 min
Apr 19, 10:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTLake, McHenry30 min
Apr 19, 11:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTCook, Will34 min
Apr 19, 11:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTLake26 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.