Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 3, NWS St. Louis, MO

April 7, 1998Macoupin County, Illinois

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this tornado warning at Apr 7, 1998, 4:44 PM CDT for Macoupin County, Illinois. It was in force for 46 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
Apr 7, 1998, 4:44 PM CDT (21:44 UTC)
Expired
Apr 7, 1998, 5:30 PM CDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS St. Louis, MO
Area
Whole counties

County Macoupin County, IL

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 91 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:47 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 7, 5:00 PM CDTHail 0.75Girard, ILThe local newspaper reported 3/4 inch hail fell in Girard.

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
Apr 7, 4:15 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 150 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 1998-04-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1998-04-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 69 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1568 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
69 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
51 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.

807 
WFUS1 KSTL 072145 RRA
TORSTL
ILC117-072230-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
444 PM CDT TUE APR 7 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  530 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS
 
   ...NORTHEASTERN MACOUPIN COUNTY
 
AT 444 PM...RADAR DETECTED A TORNADO 5 MILES WEST OF CARLINVILLE. IT WAS
MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. TOWNS IN THE PATH ARE
NILWOOD...STANDARD CITY AND GIRARD.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY AND SEEK SHELTER
NOW
 
GKS/DM

The office that day

Everything else NWS St. Louis, MO issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 7, 3:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXAdams35 min
Apr 7, 4:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXAdams25 min
Apr 7, 4:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMacoupin41 min
Apr 7, 4:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXBrown40 min
Apr 7, 5:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMontgomery37 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.