Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 37, NWS Quad Cities, IA

July 19, 1997Hancock County, Henderson County, McDonough County, Illinois

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this tornado warning at Jul 19, 1997, 5:35 PM CDT for Hancock County, Henderson County, McDonough County, Illinois. It was in force for 50 min. 3 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: Jul 19, 1997, 5:35 PM CDT (22:35 UTC)
Expired: Jul 19, 1997, 6:25 PM CDT
In force: 50 min
Issued by: NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area: Whole counties

Counties Hancock County, IL, Henderson County, IL, McDonough County, IL

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 120 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:37 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
Jul 19, 5:35 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Blandinsville, IL	Tornado sighted but no damage or injuries reported.
Jul 19, 6:05 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 60	Blandinsville, IL	High winds reported and power lines flattened.
Jul 19, 6:21 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52	Sciota, 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

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 123 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 232 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -190 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1181 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 116 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 158 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KMLI 192236 RRA
TORMLI
ILC067-071-109-192325-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
535 PM CDT SAT JUL 19 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  NORTHERN HANCOCK COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS
  SOUTHERN HENDERSON COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS
  NORTHWESTERN MCDONOUGH COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 625 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  SCIOTA                             AROUND 535 PM CDT
  BLANDINSVILLE                      AROUND 535 PM CDT
  GOOD HOPE                          AROUND 535 PM CDT
  LA CROSSE                          AROUND 540 PM CDT
  MACOMB                             AROUND 545 PM CDT

* AT 533 PM CDT...A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY QUAD CITIES
  IA DOPPLER RADAR AND SPOTTER REPORTS 16 MILES NORTHWEST OF MACOMB
  OR 7 MILES NORTH OF BLANDINSVILLE MOVING SOUTH AT 30 MPH.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE IS
IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER 0A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY
FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...FIND SHELTER IN AN
INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE
BLANKETS...PILLOWS...OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID
WINDOWS.

CORONA

The office that day

Everything else NWS Quad Cities, IA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 19, 3:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Rock Island	47 min
Jul 19, 3:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Mercer	46 min
Jul 19, 4:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Warren	51 min
Jul 19, 4:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Mercer	32 min
Jul 19, 6:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	McDonough	48 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.