Alert archive / Illinois / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 45, NWS Lincoln, IL

May 15, 1998Fulton County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 15, 1998, 7:58 PM CDT for Fulton County, Illinois. It was in force for 47 min. 2 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: May 15, 1998, 7:58 PM CDT (00:58 UTC)
Expired: May 15, 1998, 8:45 PM CDT
In force: 47 min
Issued by: NWS Lincoln, IL
Area: Whole counties

County Fulton County, IL

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:00 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
May 15, 8:05 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Little America, IL	Thunderstorm winds blew down 4 large trees 3.5 miles southwest of Little America. Also, several power lines and power poles, as well as, large tree limbs were blown down. Two miles west of Little America, a barn was blown off of its foundation. No injuries
May 15, 8:05 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Bryant, IL	A tornado touched down one mile southwest of Bryant. It blew down 4 large trees, one of which fell onto a house causing minor damage. A barn sustained minor damage, a shed was destroyed, and a swingset was thrown 150 feet. Also, a john boat was picked up an

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
May 15, 4:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 141 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: 3559 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -11 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 821 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 183 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 254 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 3.7
Supercell composite: 20.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSPI 160058 RRA
SVRSPI
ILC057-160145-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
758 PM CDT FRI MAY 15 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LINCOLN HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  FULTON COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 845 PM CDT

* AT 755 PM CDT LINCOLN DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CANTON TO 30
  MILES SOUTHWEST OF CANTON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

* THIS STORM IS EXPECTED TO AFFECT AREAS AROUND...
  CANTON
  LEWISTOWN
  CUBA
  GLASFORD
  ST DAVID

LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS OF 60 MPH OR HIGHER WILL ACCOMPANY
THIS STORM. MOVE TO A STURDY BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

REMEMBER...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE TORNADOES AT ANY TIME.

GEELHART

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Lincoln, IL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 15, 2:10 PM CDT, 5 hours 48 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 15, 2:10 PM CDT, 5 hours 48 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
210 PM CDT FRI MAY 15 1998

SFC ANAL SHOWS COLD FRONT ACROSS WR MO WITH TSRA STARTING TO FIRE AHEAD
OF THIS.   LOTS OF MOISTURE AHEAD OF THE SYS WITH 70 DEWPOINTS ACROSS
MUCH OF CEN IL.  SATL PIC SHOWS DRY AIR AT THE MID LVLS WORKING ACROSS
THE AREA. DRY AIR PUNCH IS HELPING TO WEAKEN THE CAP WITH TSRA GETTING
ITS ACT TOGETHER IN SWRN MO.  BELIEVE THIS WILL BE CEN IL SVR WX CHC
OVERNIGHT AS IT MOVES RAPIDLY EAST WITH THE MID LVL 80-90KT MID LVL JET.
UNSTABLE AIRMASS WITH CAPES OF 3-4K SHOULD KEEP THE TSRA GOING ACROSS MO
INTO IL.  ETA MODEL SEEMS TO HAVE THE BEST HANDLE ON THE LOW LVL MOISTRE
BUT IT IS UNDERDONE SOMEWHAT.  EXPECT SQUALL LINE TYPE OF SYS AS WIND
SHEAR PROFILE SUPPORTS BOW TYPE ECHOS AND THUNDERSTORM WINDS.

SO BEST WAY TO WORD ZONES MAY BE WITH A LIKELY POP OR TSRA DEVELOPING
ACROSS THE NWRN HALF OF CEN IL CLOSER TO BEST DYNAMICS.

WITH DELAYED ONSET OF TSRA...TEMPS WILL BE DIFFICULT OVRNGT WITH DRYER
AIR MOVING INTO BEHIND THE FRONT.  GIUD NUMBERS BRING COOLER AIR INTO
THE AREA OVERNIGHT AFTER FROPA AND SEE NO NEED TO STRAY FROM THAT
THINKING.

PIA    60/81  60
SPI    60/81  60
DEC    60/81  50
CMI    63/81  40
LWV    64/82  30

KETCHAM

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 15, 7:05 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Schuyler	40 min
May 15, 7:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Fulton, Knox	36 min
May 15, 8:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Peoria	47 min
May 15, 8:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Mason	42 min
May 15, 9:06 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Marshall, Woodford	39 min
May 15, 9:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Tazewell	40 min
May 15, 10:06 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	McLean	39 min
May 15, 10:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Logan	51 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Illinois, 1998 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1998

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.