Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 21, NWS Quad Cities, IA

May 17, 1999Carroll County, Whiteside County, Illinois

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this tornado warning at May 17, 1999, 12:00 AM CDT for Carroll County, Whiteside County, Illinois. It was in force for 30 min. 2 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 17, 1999, 12:00 AM CDT (05:00 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 1999, 12:30 AM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Carroll County, IL, Whiteside County, IL

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 64 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:59 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 17, 12:10 AM CDTThunderstorm WindFulton, ILTrees were downed by severe thunderstorm winds.
May 17, 12:15 AM CDTThunderstorm WindShannon, ILSevere thunderstorm winds first blew apart a hog shed, which caused power lines to fall onto a barn. The barn and about 400 head of hog were lost in the resulting fire.

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 16, 11:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 00:00Z, 5.0 hours before the alert went out and 58 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, Davenport, at 00:00Z on 1999-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3009 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Davenport, at 00:00Z on 1999-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 61 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
3009 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1174 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
61 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
102 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
5.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMLI 170500 RRA
TORMLI
ILC015-195-170530-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
1200 AM CDT MON MAY 17 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN QUAD CITIES IA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CARROLL COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS
  WHITESIDE COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 1230 AM CDT

* AT 1157 PM CDT... DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 14
  MILES NORTHEAST OF CLINTON OR 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MT CARROLL
  MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  MT CARROLL                                 AROUND MIDNIGHT CDT
  CHADWICK                                   AROUND 1205 AM CDT
  LANARK                                     AROUND 1210 AM CDT
  SHANNON                                    AROUND 1220 AM CDT


 SPOTTERS AND THE PUBLIC HAVE REPORTED SEVERAL FUNNEL CLOUDS WITH
 THE LINE OF STORMS MOVING INTO CARROLL AND WHITESIDE COUNTIES.

 GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR!


 MCCLURE

The office that day

Everything else NWS Quad Cities, IA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 8:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNJo Daviess49 min
May 16, 9:10 PM CDTTornado WarningDVNJo Daviess35 min
May 16, 11:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNRock Island47 min
May 16, 11:36 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDVNJo Daviess6 hr
May 16, 11:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNCarroll, Jo Daviess48 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 1999Every tornado warning in 1999Tornadoes in 1999

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.