Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 20, NWS Lincoln, IL

May 12, 2000Sangamon County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this tornado warning at May 12, 2000, 4:35 PM CDT for Sangamon County, Illinois. It was in force for 25 min. No storm report in the archive falls 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.

The facts

Issued: May 12, 2000, 4:35 PM CDT (21:35 UTC)
Expired: May 12, 2000, 5:00 PM CDT
In force: 25 min
Issued by: NWS Lincoln, IL
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Sangamon County, IL

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 12, 2:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 74 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: 2035 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -305 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1023 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 283 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 282 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: -0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KILX 122136
TORSPI
ILC167-122200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
435 PM CDT FRI MAY 12 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LINCOLN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SANGAMON COUNTY IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 500 PM CDT

* AT 435 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  DEVELOPING TORNADO 12 MILES WEST OF ILLIOPOLIS...OR ABOUT 10 MILES
  NORTHEAST OF SPRINGFIELD...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  ILLIOPOLIS
  MECHANICSBURG
  DAWSON
  BUFFALO

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM...TAKE COVER IN A BASEMENT OR
INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. VEHICLES AND MOBILE HOMES SHOULD
BE ABANDONED FOR A SAFER SHELTER.

REPORT SEVERE WEATHER OR ANY STORM DAMAGE TO YOUR NEAREST LAW
ENFORCEMENT AGENCY FOR RELAY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. YOUR
REPORT COULD HELP SAVE LIVES. STAY TUNED FOR LATER STATEMENTS.

LAT...LON 3994 8952 3980 8951 3982 8923 3992 8923

HEDGES

NNNN

The office that day

Everything else NWS Lincoln, IL issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 12, 7:13 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Mason	32 min
May 12, 7:31 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Tazewell	44 min
May 12, 2:36 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Mason	39 min
May 12, 2:58 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Cass, Mason, Menard	47 min
May 12, 2:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford	46 min
May 12, 3:41 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Menard, Sangamon	49 min
May 12, 3:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Woodford	46 min
May 12, 3:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Logan, Mason	58 min
May 12, 3:58 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Logan	47 min
May 12, 4:12 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	McLean	63 min
May 12, 4:26 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	DeWitt	49 min
May 12, 4:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Tazewell	46 min
May 12, 4:40 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Macon	50 min
May 12, 4:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Woodford	63 min
May 12, 4:46 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Logan	29 min
May 12, 5:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Christian	42 min
May 12, 5:23 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Christian, Shelby	67 min
May 12, 5:28 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Piatt	62 min
May 12, 5:34 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Macon	41 min
May 12, 5:36 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Champaign	39 min
May 12, 5:42 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Moultrie	63 min
May 12, 6:05 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Vermilion	55 min
May 12, 6:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Sangamon	36 min
May 12, 6:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Champaign	50 min
May 12, 6:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Douglas	65 min
May 12, 6:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Shelby	43 min
May 12, 6:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Christian	51 min
May 12, 6:52 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Champaign, Vermilion	68 min
May 12, 6:54 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Coles	51 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.