Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Lincoln, IL

March 28, 1997Coles County, Cumberland County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this tornado warning at Mar 28, 1997, 5:12 PM CST for Coles County, Cumberland County, Illinois. It was in force for 33 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: Mar 28, 1997, 5:12 PM CST (23:12 UTC)
Expired: Mar 28, 1997, 5:45 PM CST
In force: 33 min
Issued by: NWS Lincoln, IL
Area: Whole counties

Counties Coles County, IL, Cumberland County, IL

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 126 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:12 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
Mar 28, 5:15 PM CST	Hail 1.75	Neoga, 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
Mar 28, 2:15 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 11.2 hours before the alert went out and 90 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: 127 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -142 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 815 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 207 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 211 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

110 
WFUS1 KSPI 282312 RRA
TORSPI
ILC019-035-282345-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
512 PM CST FRI MAR 28 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  COLES COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS
  CUMBERLAND COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 545 PM CST
 
* SOME TOWNS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO:

    NEOGA
    MATTOON
    CHARLESTON

* AT 510 PM CST LINCOLN DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING
  TORNADO 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MATTOON...MOVING NORTHEAST
  AT 40 MPH.

TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IN A BASEMENT OR INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR. ABANDON MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES FOR SAFER SHELTER.

GEELHART

The office that day

Everything else NWS Lincoln, IL issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 28, 2:54 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Menard	36 min
Mar 28, 3:18 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Logan, Sangamon	57 min
Mar 28, 3:54 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Christian	36 min
Mar 28, 4:00 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	McLean	60 min
Mar 28, 4:06 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Macon	54 min
Mar 28, 4:27 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	DeWitt	48 min
Mar 28, 4:37 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Effingham	53 min
Mar 28, 4:49 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Champaign, Piatt	56 min
Mar 28, 5:00 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Shelby	30 min
Mar 28, 5:35 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	DeWitt	40 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.