Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 47, NWS St. Louis, MO

May 23, 1998Monroe County, Saint Clair County, Illinois

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this tornado warning at May 23, 1998, 6:09 PM CDT for Monroe County, Saint Clair County, Illinois. It was in force for 51 min. 5 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 23, 1998, 6:09 PM CDT (23:09 UTC)
Expired: May 23, 1998, 7:00 PM CDT
In force: 51 min
Issued by: NWS St. Louis, MO
Area: Whole counties

Counties Monroe County, IL, Saint Clair County, IL

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 66 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:09 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
May 23, 6:10 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52	Columbia, IL
May 23, 6:15 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 51	Centerville, IL
May 23, 6:25 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 55	O Fallon, IL
May 23, 6:30 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 55	Freeburg, IL
May 23, 6:35 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 55	Lebanon, 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 23, 3:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 11.2 hours before the alert went out and 234 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: 64 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -431 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 556 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 142 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 186 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 4.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

876 
WFUS1 KSTL 232310 RRA
TORSTL
ILC133-163-240000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
609 PM CDT SAT MAY 23 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  MONROE COUNTY ILLINOIS IN SOUTHWESTERN ILLINOIS
  ST CLAIR COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 700 PM CDT

* AT 610 PM... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO NEAR COLUMBIA... MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH...
  CENTERVILLE
  BELLEVILLE
  MILLSTADT

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.

FG

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 22, 10:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Montgomery	30 min
May 23, 6:16 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LSX	Madison	49 min
May 23, 6:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Greene, Jersey	49 min
May 23, 6:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Randolph	33 min
May 23, 6:50 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LSX	Greene	50 min
May 23, 6:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Clinton	47 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.