Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 44, NWS St. Louis, MO

May 12, 1998Montgomery County, Illinois

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this tornado warning at May 12, 1998, 10:08 PM CDT for Montgomery County, Illinois. It was in force for 47 min. 4 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, 10:08 PM CDT (03:08 UTC)
Expired
May 12, 1998, 10:55 PM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS St. Louis, MO
Area
Whole counties

County Montgomery County, IL

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 103 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:10 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, 10:16 PM CDTTornado F0Witt, IL
May 12, 10:30 PM CDTHail 0.75Nokomis, IL
May 12, 11:02 PM CDTHail 1.75Litchfield, IL
May 12, 11:05 PM CDTHail 1Litchfield, 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, 7:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 00:00Z, 3.1 hours before the alert went out and 127 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 00:00Z on 1998-05-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1906 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, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 1998-05-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 81 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
1906 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1317 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
81 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
190 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
6.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSTL 130308 RRA
TORSTL
ILC135-130355-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
1008 PM CDT TUE MAY 12 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 1055 PM CDT

* AT 1005 PM CDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A TORNADO NEAR WITT... MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH...
  WITT
  COALTON
  NOKOMIS

DOPPLER RADAR IS SHOWING A STRONG TORNADO SIGNAL. IF YOU ARE IN
THE PATH MOVE TO A SHELTER NOW! A BASEMENT IS BEST...BUT IF NOT
AVAILABLE...MOVE TO THE LOWEST LEVEL AND HIDE IN A SMALL INTERIOR
ROOM. GET OUT OF MOBILE HOMES AND CARS IN FAVOR OF A STRONG
BUILDING.

METZE/GLASS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 12, 7:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXGreene51 min
May 12, 7:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMacoupin61 min
May 12, 8:16 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXMacoupin49 min
May 12, 8:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMontgomery47 min
May 12, 9:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMacoupin46 min
May 12, 9:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMontgomery49 min
May 12, 10:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMacoupin49 min
May 12, 11:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMontgomery50 min
May 12, 11:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMacoupin48 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.