Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 47, NWS Lincoln, IL

April 29, 1998McLean County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this tornado warning at Apr 29, 1998, 4:56 PM CDT for McLean County, Illinois. It was in force for 49 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
Apr 29, 1998, 4:56 PM CDT (21:56 UTC)
Expired
Apr 29, 1998, 5:45 PM CDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Lincoln, IL
Area
Whole counties

County McLean County, IL

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 56 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:00 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 29, 4:58 PM CDTTornado F0Ellsworth, ILA tornado touched down 2 miles west southwest of Ellsworth. It uprooted one 2 foot diameter tree and broke off two others several feet above the ground. One of the trees fell across the front porch of a house and onto a nearby shed, destroying both. A garag
Apr 29, 5:41 PM CDTHail 1.75Mc Lean, 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 nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 43 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 1998-04-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 15 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 1998-04-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 83 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
15 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-136 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
514 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
83 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
108 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.

320 
WFUS1 KSPI 292157 RRA
TORSPI
ILC113-292245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
456 PM CDT WED APR 29 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LINCOLN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  EASTERN MCLEAN COUNTY IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 545 PM CDT

* AT 450 PM CDT DOPPLER RADAR AND LAW ENFORCEMENT INDICATED A
  DEVELOPING TORNADO 10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF BLOOMINGTON...MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THIS STORM IS EXPECTED TO AFFECT AREAS AROUND...
  LEROY
  ELLSWORTH
  ARROWSMITH
  SAYBROOK

THE TORNADO MAY BE OBSCURED BY RAIN AND MAY NOT BE VISIBLE. TAKE
COVER IN A BASEMENT OR INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.

BYRD/AUTEN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 29, 5:32 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMcLean58 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes 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.