Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 233

May 2, 19976 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 2, 1997, 1:30 PM CDT for 6 states. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 2, 1997, 1:30 PM CDT (18:30 UTC)
Expired: May 2, 1997, 7:00 PM CDT
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 112 counties

Clay County, AR, Craighead County, AR, Crittenden County, AR, Cross County, AR, Greene County, AR, Jackson County, AR, Mississippi County, AR, Poinsett County, AR, St. Francis County, AR, Woodruff County, AR, Alexander County, IL, Clay County, IL, Clinton County, IL, Edwards County, IL, Franklin County, IL, Gallatin County, IL, Hamilton County, IL, Hardin County, IL, Jackson County, IL, Jefferson County, IL, Johnson County, IL, Lawrence County, IL, Marion County, IL, Massac County, IL, Perry County, IL, Pope County, IL, Pulaski County, IL, Randolph County, IL, Richland County, IL, Saline County, IL, Union County, IL, Wabash County, IL, Washington County, IL, Wayne County, IL, White County, IL, Williamson County, IL, Crawford County, IN, Daviess County, IN, Dubois County, IN, Gibson County, IN, Knox County, IN, Martin County, IN, Orange County, IN, Perry County, IN, Pike County, IN, Posey County, IN, Spencer County, IN, Vanderburgh County, IN, Warrick County, IN, Ballard County, KY, Caldwell County, KY, Calloway County, KY, Carlisle County, KY, Christian County, KY, Crittenden County, KY, Daviess County, KY, Fulton County, KY, Graves County, KY, Hancock County, KY, Henderson County, KY, Hickman County, KY, Hopkins County, KY, Livingston County, KY, Lyon County, KY, Marshall County, KY, McCracken County, KY, McLean County, KY, Muhlenberg County, KY, Ohio County, KY, Todd County, KY, Trigg County, KY, Union County, KY, Webster County, KY, Bollinger County, MO, Butler County, MO, Cape Girardeau County, MO, Dunklin County, MO, Madison County, MO, Mississippi County, MO, New Madrid County, MO, Pemiscot County, MO, Perry County, MO, Sainte Genevieve County, MO, Scott County, MO, Stoddard County, MO, Wayne County, MO, Benton County, TN, Carroll County, TN, Chester County, TN, Crockett County, TN, Decatur County, TN, Dyer County, TN, Fayette County, TN, Gibson County, TN, Hardeman County, TN, Hardin County, TN, Haywood County, TN, Henderson County, TN, Henry County, TN, Houston County, TN, Humphreys County, TN, Lake County, TN, Lauderdale County, TN, Madison County, TN, McNairy County, TN, Montgomery County, TN, Obion County, TN, Perry County, TN, Shelby County, TN, Stewart County, TN, Tipton County, TN, Weakley County, TN

The radar

The Paducah radar (KPAH), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:32 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.

Warnings issued inside it

2 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 2, 1:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Perry	38 min
May 2, 3:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Christian, Muhlenberg	46 min

The nearest sounding before it

Little Rock, AR (KLZK), launched 12:00Z, 6.5 hours before the alert went out and 195 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: 496 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -404 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 733 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 534 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 701 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.

687 
WWUS9 KMKC 021812
SEL3  
MKC WW 021812
ARZ000-MOZ000-ILZ000-INZ000-KYZ000-TNZ000-030000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 233
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
112 PM CDT FRI MAY 2 1997

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR ALL OR PORTIONS OF

   NORTHEAST ARKANSAS                           
   SOUTHEAST MISSOURI                           
   SOUTHERN ILLINOIS                           
   SOUTHWEST INDIANA                            
   WESTERN KENTUCKY                           
   WESTERN TENNESSEE                          

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 130 PM UNTIL 700
PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 100 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 10 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF MEMPHIS TENNESSEE TO 60
MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF SALEM ILLINOIS.


REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

DISCUSSION...TORNADO POTENTIAL WILL INCREASE IN WARM SECTOR OF
DEVELOPING SURFACE LOW OVER MISSOURI...WHERE LOW LECEL AIR MASS IS
RECOVERY RAPIDLY BENEATH STRENGTHENING FLOW ALOFT.  

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23050.


...CORFIDI

345,0913 384,0894 384,0860 345,0880

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 2, 4:30 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Ashley, Bradley, Calhoun, Chicot, Columbia, Desha and 7 more	7 hr
May 2, 5:15 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Arkansas, Baxter, Boone, Carroll, Clark, Clay and 52 more	6 hr
May 2, 3:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Madison, Monroe	7 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Illinois, 1997 Tornado Watches in Tennessee, 1997 Tornado Watches in Kentucky, 1997 Every tornado watch 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.