Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 44, NWS St. Louis, MO

December 23, 1996Monroe County, Randolph County, Illinois; Sainte Genevieve County, Missouri

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this tornado warning at Dec 23, 1996, 2:38 PM CST for Monroe County, Randolph County, Illinois; Sainte Genevieve County, Missouri. It was in force for 37 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
Dec 23, 1996, 2:38 PM CST (20:38 UTC)
Expired
Dec 23, 1996, 3:15 PM CST
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS St. Louis, MO
Area
Whole counties

Counties Monroe County, IL, Randolph County, IL, Sainte Genevieve County, MO

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 88 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:41 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
Dec 23, 2:55 PM CSTTornado F1Evansville, 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, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 263 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 1996-12-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 70 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 1996-12-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 141 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
70 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-60 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
518 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
59 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
141 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
151 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 232039 RRA
TORSTL
ILC133-157-MOC186-232115-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
238 PM CST MON DEC 23 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  315 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS
 
   ...SOUTHERN MONROE COUNTY...NORTHERN RANDOLPH COUNTY
 
 
IN EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI
 
   ...NORTHERN ST. GENEVIEVE COUNTY
 
AT 238 PM...RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM JUST WEST OF
BLOOMSDALE. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. THE STORM
WILL MOVE THROUGH THE BLOOMSDALE...PRARIE DU ROCHER AND RENAULT.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM...TAKE COVER IDN A BASEMENT
OR INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST LEVEL.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 23, 11:19 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMonroe41 min
Dec 23, 11:43 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXCalhoun62 min
Dec 23, 11:43 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXGreene62 min
Dec 23, 3:18 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXSaint Clair, Washington27 min
Dec 23, 10:27 AM CSTTornado WarningLSXCrawford, Washington63 min
Dec 23, 10:59 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMontgomery, Warren61 min
Dec 23, 11:03 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXLincoln42 min
Dec 23, 12:10 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXFranklin65 min
Dec 23, 1:40 PM CSTTornado WarningLSXIron, Washington35 min
Dec 23, 2:15 PM CSTTornado WarningLSXSaint Francois, Washington30 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 1996Tornado Warnings in Missouri, 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.