Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 41, NWS St. Louis, MO

May 12, 1998Brown County, Illinois

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this tornado warning at May 12, 1998, 5:57 PM CDT for Brown County, Illinois. It was in force for 63 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
May 12, 1998, 5:57 PM CDT (22:57 UTC)
Expired
May 12, 1998, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS St. Louis, MO
Area
Whole counties

County Brown County, IL

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 122 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:59 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
May 12, 6:00 PM CDTHail 1.75Versailles, IL
May 12, 6:03 PM CDTHail 1.25Hersman, IL
May 12, 6:05 PM CDTHail 2.75Hersman, 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
May 12, 4:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 184 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 1998-05-12Temperature 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 1998-05-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 156 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1323 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
156 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
188 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.

000 
TTAA00 KSTL 122257 RRA
TORSTL
ILC009-122355-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
557 PM CDT TUE MAY 12 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN BROWN COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 700 PM CDT

* AT 555 PM... SEVERE STORM SPOTTERS INDICATED A TORNADO 5 MILES
  SOUTH OF BUCKHORN... MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH...
  VERSAILLES



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.

FG/DLF

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 12, 5:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXAdams34 min
May 12, 5:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXBrown65 min
May 12, 5:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXAdams62 min
May 12, 6:00 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXBrown60 min
May 12, 6:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXPike37 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.