Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Paducah, KY

March 28, 1997Johnson County, Massac County, Pope County, Illinois

NWS Paducah, KY issued this tornado warning at Mar 28, 1997, 5:38 PM CST for Johnson County, Massac County, Pope County, Illinois. It was in force for 22 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, 5:38 PM CST (23:38 UTC)
Expired: Mar 28, 1997, 6:00 PM CST
In force: 22 min
Issued by: NWS Paducah, KY
Area: Whole counties

Counties Johnson County, IL, Massac County, IL, Pope County, IL

The radar

The Paducah radar (KPAH), 33 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:40 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, 5:59 PM CST	Hail 1.75	Reevesville, 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

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 233 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 554 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 72 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 287 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 292 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KPAH 282338 RRA
TORPAH
ILC087-127-151-290000-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
538 PM CST FRI MAR 28 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PADUCAH HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTH ILLINOIS
 
   ...SOUTHERN JOHNSON COUNTY...NORTHERN MASSAC COUNTY
   ...POPE COUNTY
 
A TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO MOVE THROUGH OR NEAR SAMOTH BY 540 PM CST...
REEVESVILLE BY 545 PM AND THROUGH OR NEAR DIXON SPRINGS BY 550 PM CST.
 
AT 533 PM CST...THE OLMSTED FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD AT
ROUTE 37 AT GRAND CHAIN. DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 20
MILES NORTH OF PADUCAH NEAR KARNAK. MOVEMENT WAS EAST NORTHEAST AT
35 MPH.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
SHANKLIN
&

The office that day

Everything else NWS Paducah, KY issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 28, 3:12 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Perry	33 min
Mar 28, 3:37 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Jefferson	38 min
Mar 28, 3:51 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Perry	39 min
Mar 28, 4:09 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Jackson	36 min
Mar 28, 4:18 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Jefferson	27 min
Mar 28, 4:37 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Hamilton, Wayne	53 min
Mar 28, 4:54 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Jackson, Williamson	51 min
Mar 28, 5:06 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Pulaski	24 min
Mar 28, 5:18 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Edwards, Wabash	57 min
Mar 28, 5:21 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Johnson	54 min
Mar 28, 5:24 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Saline	51 min
Mar 28, 5:31 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	White	59 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.