Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 12, NWS Chicago, IL

August 24, 1998Ogle County, Winnebago County, Illinois

NWS Chicago, IL issued this tornado warning at Aug 24, 1998, 12:37 PM CDT for Ogle County, Winnebago County, Illinois. It was in force for 33 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 24, 1998, 12:37 PM CDT (17:37 UTC)
Expired
Aug 24, 1998, 1:10 PM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Chicago, IL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Ogle County, IL, Winnebago County, IL

The radar

The Milwaukee radar (KMKX), 103 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:36 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Aug 24, 10:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 12:00Z, 5.6 hours before the alert went out and 122 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, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 1998-08-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2161 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, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 1998-08-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 54 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
2161 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-158 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1178 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
54 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
128 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCHI 241737 RRA
TORCHI
ILC141-201-241810-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
1237 PM CDT MON AUG 24 1998



THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHICAGO HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  OGLE COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS
  WINNEBAGO COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 110 PM CDT

* AT 133PM RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO NEAR EGAN OR ABOUT 15
  MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF ROCKFORD. MOVEMENT IS TO THE EAST SOUTHEAST
  AT 45 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  BYRON BY 1245 PM
  MORRISTOWN AT 1255 PM

THE TORNADO THREAT IS PRIMARILY IN NORTHERN OGLE AND SOUTHERN
WINNEBAGO COUNTIES BUT DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS AND HAIL ARE
POSSIBLE ANPYWHERE IN THOSE COUNTIES.

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR!

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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, Aug 24, 6:50 AM CDT, 5 hours 47 minutes before
ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019>023-032>033-039-INZ001>002-010>011-
019-241600-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK/UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
650 AM CDT MON AUG 24 1998

FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA

THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON
AND TONIGHT

A VERY WARM AND MOIST TROPICAL AIR MASS LIES ACROSS THE AREA
WITH A NEARLY STATIONARY FRONT LYING JUST NORTH OF THE AREA
FROM EXTREME SOUTHERN WISCONSIN INTO NORTHERN NEBRASKA. A LOW
PRESSURE SYSTEM IS LOCATED ON THE WESTERN END OF THE FRONT
OVER NEBRASKA AND THIS LOW WILL MOVE EAST TO EXTREME NORTHERN
ILLINOIS BY LATE TONIGHT. THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING THIS
MORNING ACROSS EASTERN NEBRASKA AHEAD OF THE LOW AND THIS
ACTIVITY SHOULD SPREAD EASTWARD INTO NORTHERN ILLINOIS THIS
AFTERNOON AND INTO NORTHWEST INDIANA BY THIS EVENING. SOME OF
THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY TONIGHT

MORRISON
Special weather statement, Aug 24, 10:58 AM CDT, 1 hour 39 minutes before
ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019>023-032>033-039-INZ001>002-010>011-
019-251100-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
1100 AM CDT/EST MON AUG 24 1998

FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA

...MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...

THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER ALL OF
NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND EXTREME NORTHWEST
INDIANA THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.  A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WATCH IS ALREADY IN EFFECT FOR ILLINOIS COUNTIES ROUGHLY ALONG
AND NORTH OF I-80 UNTIL 4PM CDT.

WARM AND VERY MOIST AIR REMAINS IN PLACE ACROSS THE AREA. A
THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX IS MOVING EASTWARD THROUGH NORTHEAST IOWA
AT LATE MORNING AND WILL REACH NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS DURING
THE EARLY AFTERNOON AND NORTHEAST ILLINOIS BY MID AFTERNOON
AND NORTHWEST INDIANA BY LATE AFTERNOON.  DAMAGING WINDS ARE
PARTICULARLY LIKELY WITH THE STRONGER OF THESE STORMS AND HAIL
TO GOLF BALL SIZE IS POSSIBLE.

THERE MAY BE A SECOND ROUND OF STORMS WITH SEVERE POTENTIAL IN
THE EVENING OR EARLY NIGHTTIME HOURS.  THIS COULD AFFECT THE
SAME AREAS AS THE AFTERNOON ACTIVITY AND ALSO AREAS SOUTH OF
I-80.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED BY 1 PM IN NORTH
CENTRAL ILLINOIS...AFTER 2PM IN NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND AFTER
4PM IN NORTHWEST INDIANA.

KAPLAN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 24, 12:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTOgle, Winnebago51 min
Aug 24, 12:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTLee55 min
Aug 24, 12:52 PM CDTTornado WarningLOTBoone, DeKalb53 min
Aug 24, 1:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTKane, McHenry31 min
Aug 24, 1:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTCook, DuPage, Kendall, Will62 min
Aug 24, 1:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTLake62 min
Aug 24, 2:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTWill51 min
Aug 24, 2:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTKankakee54 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.