Alert archive / Illinois / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1999

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 72, NWS St. Louis, MO

May 5, 1999Washington County, Illinois

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 5, 1999, 5:24 PM CDT for Washington County, Illinois. It was in force for 36 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 5, 1999, 5:24 PM CDT (22:24 UTC)
Expired
May 5, 1999, 6:00 PM CDT
In force
36 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 22:24 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 5, 5:28 PM CDTHail 1.75Radom, IL
May 5, 5:40 PM CDTHail 1Ashley, IL
May 5, 6:00 PM CDTHail 1Dubois, 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 nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 10.4 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 1999-05-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 49 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 12:00Z on 1999-05-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 208 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
49 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-201 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
869 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
208 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
200 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 
WUUS1 KSTL 052225 RRA
SVRSTL
ILC189-052300-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
524 PM CDT WED MAY 5 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN WASHINGTON COUNTY ILLINOIS IN SOUTHWESTERN
  ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 600 PM CDT

* AT 523 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DUBOIS... MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

* LOCATIONS THAT WILL BE AFFECTED...
  DU BOIS
  RADOM

THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF DAMAGING HAIL. STAY INSIDE AND AWAY
FROM WINDOWS.

JP/TES

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 5, 2:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMarion47 min
May 5, 5:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMarion49 min
May 5, 6:11 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXMarion49 min
May 5, 6:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXFayette34 min
May 5, 6:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMadison, Saint Clair47 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Illinois, 1999Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.