Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 21, NWS Quad Cities, IA
NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this tornado warning at May 18, 1997, 8:13 PM CDT for Henry County, Illinois. It was in force for 47 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
- May 18, 1997, 8:13 PM CDT (01:13 UTC)
- Expired
- May 18, 1997, 9:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 47 min
- Issued by
- NWS Quad Cities, IA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Henry County, IL
The radar
The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:14 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 18, 8:17 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Colona, 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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 18, 5:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Davenport, (KDVN), launched 00:00Z, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 43 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2339 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -25 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1544 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 49 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 145 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 165 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.0
- Supercell composite
- 9.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
280 WFUS1 KMLI 190114 RRA TORMLI ILC073-190200- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL 813 PM CDT SUN MAY 18 1997 * TORNADO WARNING FOR HENRY COUNTY ILLINOIS - IN NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS * UNTIL 900 PM CDT * THIS TORNADO WILL REACH NEAR GENESEO AROUND 815 PM CDT ATKINSON AROUND 825 PM CDT HOOPPOLE AROUND 835 PM CDT ANNAWAN AROUND 835 PM CDT KEWANEE AROUND 840 PM CDT * AT 813 PM CDT...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY QUAD CITIES IA DOPPLER RADAR 24 MILES NORTHWEST OF KEWANEE OR 6 MILES NORTHWEST OF GENESEO MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO OUTRUN A TORNADO. LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF NO STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...GO TO A DITCH OR LOW SPOT. HENDRICKS
The office that day
Everything else NWS Quad Cities, IA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 18, 7:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Bureau | 50 min |
| May 18, 8:01 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DVN | Rock Island | 49 min |
| May 18, 8:03 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Henderson | 52 min |
| May 18, 8:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Warren | 49 min |
| May 18, 8:38 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Bureau | 47 min |
| May 18, 8:46 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DVN | Bureau | 49 min |
| May 18, 8:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Henderson | 45 min |
| May 18, 8:59 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Mercer | 36 min |
| May 18, 9:07 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DVN | Warren | 48 min |
| May 18, 9:14 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DVN | Putnam | 31 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes in 1997
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.