Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 32, NWS St. Louis, MO

April 15, 1998Randolph County, Illinois

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this tornado warning at Apr 15, 1998, 5:48 PM CDT for Randolph County, Illinois. It was in force for 62 min. 3 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 15, 1998, 5:48 PM CDT (22:48 UTC)
Expired: Apr 15, 1998, 6:50 PM CDT
In force: 62 min
Issued by: NWS St. Louis, MO
Area: Whole counties

County Randolph County, IL

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 104 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:49 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
Apr 15, 5:48 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Red Bud, IL	Spotters reported golfball size hail.
Apr 15, 6:07 PM CDT	Hail 2.5	Baldwin, IL	Tennis ball size hail was reported around Baldwin.
Apr 15, 6:46 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Coulterville, IL	Spotters reported golfball size hail.

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
Apr 15, 4:30 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 256 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 927 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 459 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 751 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.

666 
WFUS1 KSTL 152249 RRA
TORSTL
ILC157-152350-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
548 PM CDT WED APR 15 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN RANDOLPH COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 650 PM CDT

* AT 548 PM CDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A TORNADO JUST WEST OF RED BUD IL... MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.
  THE TORNADO WARNING HAS BEEN EXTENDED FOR SEVERAL MORE MINUTES

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH...
  RED BUD
  PRAIRIE
  BALDWIN
  HOUSTON

SEVERAL REPORTS OF LARGE HAIL HAVE ALSO BEEN RECEIVED

THIS IS A DANGEROUS SITUATION IF IN THE PATH...TAKE COVER NOW
MOVE TO A BASEMENT IF AVAILABLE. IF NOT...STAY ON THE LOWEST LEVEL
AND GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM. MOBILE HOMES AND AUTOMOBILESHOULD
BE ABANDONED IN FAVOR OF A STRONG STRUCTURE. AS A LAST RESORT...
MOVE TO A DITCH OR CULVERT AND COVER YOUR HEAD.

PEDIGO


&

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 15, 5:02 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LSX	Monroe, Randolph	63 min
Apr 15, 5:24 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LSX	Saint Clair	66 min
Apr 15, 6:01 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LSX	Washington	64 min
Apr 15, 6:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Monroe	61 min
Apr 15, 6:56 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LSX	Washington	64 min
Apr 15, 6:58 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LSX	Bond, Clinton, Madison	62 min

Nearby

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