Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 61, NWS Lincoln, IL

May 12, 1998Logan County, Mason County, Menard County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this tornado warning at May 12, 1998, 8:36 PM CDT for Logan County, Mason County, Menard County, Illinois. It was in force for 69 min. 4 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 12, 1998, 8:36 PM CDT (01:36 UTC)
Expired
May 12, 1998, 9:45 PM CDT
In force
69 min
Issued by
NWS Lincoln, IL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Logan County, IL, Mason County, IL, Menard County, IL

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 31 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:36 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
May 12, 8:40 PM CDTHail 1.75Oakford, IL
May 12, 8:55 PM CDTTornado F0Petersburg, ILA tornado briefly touched down in a field 2 miles east of Petersburg. No injuries or damage were reported.
May 12, 9:13 PM CDTTornado F0Elkhart, ILA tornado briefly touched down in a field 2 miles west of Elkhart. No injuries or damage were reported.
May 12, 9:27 PM CDTHail 1.5Elkhart, 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
May 12, 4:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr
May 12, 7:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 00:00Z, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 93 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 00:00Z on 1998-05-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1906 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1998-05-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 81 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
1906 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1317 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
81 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
190 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
6.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

865 
WFUS1 KSPI 130136 RRA
TORSPI
ILC107-125-129-130245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
836 PM CDT TUE MAY 12 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LINCOLN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  LOGAN COUNTY IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS
  MASON COUNTY IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS
  MENARD COUNTY IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 945 PM CDT

* AT 832 PM CDT LINCOLN DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 10
  MILES WEST OF LINCOLN AND ANOTHER LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
  WITH POSSIBLE TORNADOES 25 MILES WEST OF LINCOLN IN CENTRAL
  MASON COUNTY...MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* THIS STORM IS EXPECTED TO AFFECT AREAS AROUND...
  MASON CITY
  LINCOLN
  ATLANTA
  GREENVIEW

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM...TAKE COVER IN A BASEMENT OR
INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. VEHICLES AND MOBILE HOMES SHOULD
BE ABANDONED FOR A SAFER SHELTER.

FRIEDERS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 12, 7:00 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMorgan, Scott60 min
May 12, 7:18 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMenard57 min
May 12, 7:22 PM CDTTornado WarningILXSangamon53 min
May 12, 7:26 PM CDTTornado WarningILXFulton64 min
May 12, 7:32 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningILXFulton118 min
May 12, 7:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMarshall, Woodford53 min
May 12, 7:43 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMason62 min
May 12, 7:59 PM CDTTornado WarningILXTazewell61 min
May 12, 9:13 PM CDTTornado WarningILXSangamon47 min
May 12, 9:36 PM CDTTornado WarningILXChristian54 min
May 12, 9:40 PM CDTTornado WarningILXLogan50 min
May 12, 9:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXDeWitt70 min
May 12, 9:55 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMacon65 min
May 12, 10:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMcLean56 min
May 12, 10:12 PM CDTTornado WarningILXShelby63 min
May 12, 10:38 PM CDTTornado WarningILXPiatt52 min
May 12, 11:25 PM CDTTornado WarningILXChampaign65 min
May 13, 12:20 AM CDTTornado WarningILXVermilion55 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.