Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 14, NWS Lincoln, IL

April 30, 1997Champaign County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this tornado warning at Apr 30, 1997, 4:05 PM CDT for Champaign County, Illinois. It was in force for 55 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
Apr 30, 1997, 4:05 PM CDT (21:05 UTC)
Expired
Apr 30, 1997, 5:00 PM CDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Lincoln, IL
Area
Whole counties

County Champaign County, IL

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 97 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:05 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
Apr 30, 4:30 PM CDTHail 1.5Rantoul, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 30, 3:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 34 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 1997-04-30Temperature 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 1997-04-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 115 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1130 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
115 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
166 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.

327 
WFUS1 KSPI 302105 RRA
TORSPI
ILC019-302200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
405 PM CDT WED APR 30 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  CHAMPAIGN COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 500 PM CDT
 
* SOME TOWNS AFFECTED
  MAHOMET
  CHAMPAIGN
  URBANA

* AT 405 PM CDT LINCOLN DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO
  20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CHAMPAIGN...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.

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

PLAHMER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 30, 2:03 PM CDTTornado WarningILXSchuyler27 min
Apr 30, 2:27 PM CDTTornado WarningILXFulton, Schuyler48 min
Apr 30, 2:48 PM CDTTornado WarningILXKnox42 min
Apr 30, 3:02 PM CDTTornado WarningILXPeoria, Tazewell43 min
Apr 30, 3:02 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMason43 min
Apr 30, 3:15 PM CDTTornado WarningILXChristian45 min
Apr 30, 3:23 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMarshall, Stark37 min
Apr 30, 3:32 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMacon43 min
Apr 30, 3:43 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMcLean, Tazewell47 min
Apr 30, 3:50 PM CDTTornado WarningILXDeWitt40 min
Apr 30, 3:57 PM CDTTornado WarningILXPiatt48 min
Apr 30, 4:00 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMarshall30 min
Apr 30, 4:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXColes, Cumberland30 min
Apr 30, 4:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXClark, Edgar50 min
Apr 30, 5:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXLawrence, Richland29 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.