Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 34, NWS St. Louis, MO

April 15, 1998Washington County, Illinois

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this tornado warning at Apr 15, 1998, 6:56 PM CDT for Washington County, Illinois. It was in force for 64 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, 6:56 PM CDT (23:56 UTC)
Expired
Apr 15, 1998, 8:00 PM CDT
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS St. Louis, MO
Area
Whole counties

County Washington County, IL

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 117 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:56 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 15, 7:09 PM CDTHail 0.75Nashville, IL3/4 inch hail was reported soouthwest of Nashville.
Apr 15, 7:24 PM CDTHail 0.75Richview, ILCounty sheriff reported 3/4 inch hail
Apr 15, 7:30 PM CDTTornado F1Hoyleton, 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
Apr 15, 4:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 212 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 1998-04-15Temperature 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 1998-04-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 459 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
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.

999 
WFUS1 KSTL 152357 RRA
TORSTL
ILC189-160100-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WASHINGTON COUNTY ILLINOIS IN SOUTHWESTERN ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 800 PM CDT

* AT 655 PM CDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A TORNADO JUST NORTH OF OAKDALE... MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST 25 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH...
  OAKDALE
  NASHVILLE
  BEAUCOUP

NUMEROUS LARGE HAIL AND FUNNEL CLOUDS

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.

METZE/GLASS


&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 15, 5:02 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXMonroe, Randolph63 min
Apr 15, 5:24 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXSaint Clair66 min
Apr 15, 5:48 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXRandolph62 min
Apr 15, 6:01 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXWashington64 min
Apr 15, 6:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMonroe61 min
Apr 15, 6:58 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXBond, Clinton, Madison62 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.