Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Quad Cities, IA

May 18, 2000Putnam County, Illinois

NWS Quad Cities, IA issued this tornado warning at May 18, 2000, 4:41 PM CDT for Putnam County, Illinois. It was in force for 34 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 18, 2000, 4:41 PM CDT (21:41 UTC)
Expired: May 18, 2000, 5:15 PM CDT
In force: 34 min
Issued by: NWS Quad Cities, IA
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Putnam County, IL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 18, 4:56 PM CDT	Hail 1.5	Henry, IL
May 18, 5:05 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Lostant, IL	A trained spotter observed a tornado over a rural area southwest of Lostant. It lasted about 3 or 4 minutes before dissipating. No damage was reported.

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 18, 11:30 AM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr
May 18, 3:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 118 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: 1779 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -77 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 796 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 59 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 178 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 310 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 2.4
Supercell composite: 10.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KDVN 182144
TORMLI
ILC155-182215-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE QUAD CITIES IA IL
441 PM CDT THU MAY 18 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN THE QUAD CITIES HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  PUTNAM COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 515 PM CDT

* AT 440 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED   
  A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO 5 MILES SOUTH OF     
  PUTNAM...OR  OVER HENRY...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
   MCNABB BY 455 PM CDT.
   MT PALATINE BY 500 PM CDT.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. SEEK
SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FiLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY OR
ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY AND
ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

LAT...LON 4116 8951 4100 8941 4122 8872 4142 8885

NICHOLS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 18, 10:55 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Carroll, Whiteside	50 min
May 18, 10:55 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Jo Daviess, Stephenson	50 min
May 18, 12:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Whiteside	47 min
May 18, 2:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Henry, Rock Island	46 min
May 18, 3:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Henry	31 min
May 18, 3:14 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DVN	Henry	31 min
May 18, 3:21 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DVN	Bureau	24 min
May 18, 3:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DVN	Whiteside	47 min
May 18, 3:43 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DVN	Bureau	47 min
May 18, 3:47 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DVN	Henry	28 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 2000 Every tornado warning in 2000 Tornadoes in 2000

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.