Alert archive / Illinois / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 79, NWS St. Louis, MO

May 3, 1996Jersey County, Madison County, Illinois; Saint Charles County, Missouri

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 3, 1996, 4:42 PM CDT for Jersey County, Madison County, Illinois; Saint Charles County, Missouri. It was in force for 48 min. 4 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
May 3, 1996, 4:42 PM CDT (21:42 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 1996, 5:30 PM CDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS St. Louis, MO
Area
Whole counties

Counties Jersey County, IL, Madison County, IL, Saint Charles County, MO

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 39 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:45 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 3, 4:45 PM CDTHail 0.75Portage Des Sioux, MO
May 3, 5:10 PM CDTHail 1.75Wood River, IL
May 3, 5:11 PM CDTHail 1.75Edwardsville, IL
May 3, 5:30 PM CDTHail 0.75Highland, 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, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 202 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 1996-05-03Temperature 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 1996-05-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 51 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
1179 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
51 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
175 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 KSTL 032143
SVRSTL
ILC083-119-MOC183-032230-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
442 PM CDT FRI MAY 3 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  530 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS
 
   ...SOUTHERN JERSEY COUNTY...NORTHERN MADISON COUNTY
 
 
IN EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI
 
   ...EASTERN ST. CHARLES COUNTY
 
...AT 440 PM A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS JUST EAST OF GRAFTON MOVING EAST
AT 45 MPH. THIS STORM PRODUCED GOLF BALL HAIL IN ORCHARD FARM AT 435 PM.
 
TOWNS IN THE PATH INCLUDE PORTAGE DES SIOUX AND ALTON.
 
THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF DAMAGING HAIL. STAY INSIDE AND AWAY
FROM WINDOWS.
 
&
JPK

The office that day

Everything else NWS St. Louis, MO issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 10:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMonroe, Saint Clair38 min
May 2, 10:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMonroe, Randolph49 min
May 2, 11:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXSaint Clair, Washington43 min
May 3, 4:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXCalhoun34 min
May 3, 4:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXJersey34 min
May 3, 4:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXClinton46 min
May 3, 5:09 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXMadison36 min
May 3, 5:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXBond, Clinton45 min
May 3, 6:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMarion42 min
May 2, 9:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXReynolds44 min
May 2, 10:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXJefferson33 min
May 2, 11:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXSainte Genevieve36 min
May 3, 1:06 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXReynolds54 min
May 3, 4:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXSaint Charles22 min
May 3, 4:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXSaint Louis20 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Illinois, 1996Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Missouri, 1996Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.