Alert archive / Illinois / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Chicago, IL
NWS Chicago, IL issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 27, 1998, 7:43 PM CST for LaSalle County, Illinois. It was in force for 32 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 27, 1998, 7:43 PM CST (01:43 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 27, 1998, 8:15 PM CST
- In force
- 32 min
- Issued by
- NWS Chicago, IL
- Area
- Whole counties
County LaSalle County, IL
The radar
The Chicago radar (KLOT), 73 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:42 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 27, 8:00 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Peru, IL | Winds to 50 mph were reported at Peru by the Peru police. Strong winds downed power lines and trees. |
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 27, 6:15 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 135 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1945 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 54 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 223 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 290 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
932 WUUS1 KCHI 280144 RRA SVRCHI ILC053-099-105-280215- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 743 PM CST FRI MAR 27 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHICAGO HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 815 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS ...FORD COUNTY IN NORTHEAST ILLINOIS ...LA SALLE COUNTY...LIVINGSTON COUNTY AT 745 PM CST...A LINE OF STORMS STRETCHES FROM BLOOMINGTON ILLINOIS NORTHWEST THROUGH CHILLICOTHE AND IS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH. COMMUNITIES IN THE PATH OF THIS LINE OF STORMS INCLUDE LASALLE...PERU... STREATOR...PONTIAC...GIBSON CITY...AND PAXTON. EXPECT VERY STRONG WINDS AS THIS LINE PASSES. THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS. GO INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS BRUMER
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.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Mar 27, 6:23 PM CST, 1 hour 20 minutes before
ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019>023-032-039-INZ001-280203- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 623 PM CST FRI MAR 27 1998 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 1100 PM CST TONIGHT... THE FIRST SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH OF THE YEAR FOR NORTHEAST ILLINOIS HAS BEEN ISSUED THIS AFTERNOON. THE FIRST LINE OF SHOWERS STRETCHES FROM JUST NORTH OF BURLINGTON IOWA TO SPRINGFIELD ILLINOIS AT 615 PM. THIS LINE WILL REACH A ROCKFORD TO PONTIAC LINE BY 900 PM TONIGHT AND A MCHENRY TO KANKAKEE LINE BY 1000 PM. THE MAIN THREAT TONIGHT IS STRONGER WINDS. THE INTENSITY OF THE WEATHER PATTERN INFLUENCING THE AREA IS STRONG ENOUGH TO ALREADY PROMPT A HIGH WIND ADVISORY. THIS ADVISES FOR GUSTS TO 45 MPH OR HIGHER. WITH THE APPROACHING LINE OF STRONG SHOWERS...NO LIGHTNING ACCOMPANIES THESE SHOWERS TO CALL THEM THUNDERSTORMS...ANY SMALL DOWNBURST COULD COMBINE WITH THE ADVISORY WINDS TO PRODUCE GUSTS AT OR ABOVE 60 MPH. WINDS AT THAT STRENGTH CAN DO CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE. THE SHOWERS ARE LIKELY TO BE OUT OF NORTHEAST ILLINOIS BY 1100 PM CST TONIGHT. BRUMER
The office that day
Everything else NWS Chicago, IL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 27, 7:43 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LOT | Ford, Livingston | 32 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Illinois, 1998Every 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.