Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Chicago, IL

May 12, 2000Iroquois County, Illinois

NWS Chicago, IL issued this tornado warning at May 12, 2000, 4:58 PM CDT for Iroquois County, Illinois. It was in force for 32 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 12, 2000, 4:58 PM CDT (21:58 UTC)
Expired: May 12, 2000, 5:30 PM CDT
In force: 32 min
Issued by: NWS Chicago, IL
Area: Whole counties

County Iroquois County, IL

The radar

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 98 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:57 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	Remark
May 12, 5:05 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Clifton, IL
May 12, 5:15 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Papineau, 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 12, 2:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 93 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 KLOT 122159
TORCHI
ILC075-122230-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHICAGO HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  IROQUOIS COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 530 PM CDT

* AT 458 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  DEVELOPING TORNADO 3 MILES EAST OF CLIFTON...OR ABOUT 13 MILES
  NORTHWEST OF WATSEKA. THIS DANGEROUS STORM IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT
  40 MPH. THIS WARNING CONTINUES THE EARLIER WARNING ISSUED FOR IROQUOIS COUNTY.

* SOME LOCATIONS THREATENED THROUGH 530 PM CDT INCLUDE
  MARTINTON
  PAPINEAU
  BEAVERVILLE

THIS IS A DANG?EROUS STORM. MOVE INTO YOUR TORNADO SHELTER NOW!

FISHER

NNNN

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Chicago, IL wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at May 12, 3:29 PM CDT, 1 hour 29 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 12, 3:29 PM CDT, 1 hour 29 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
330 AM CDT FRI MAY 12 2000

THE AIR MASS IS UNSTABLE AND A LOT OF THE CAP IS BROKEN AS SEEN ON
THE ACCARS SOUNDINGS AT ORD THIS LATE AFTERNOON. CONVECTION IS
FIRING UP IN CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ILLINOIS. THE FRONT STILL LIES
ACROSS JUST NORTH OF QUINCY TO AROUND MILWAUKEE. USING THE ETA AND
AVN SOLUTIONS WILL FORECAST THE FRONT PAST CHICAGO BETWEEN 0000 UTC
AND 0600 UTC TONIGHT.  WILL KEEP SKIES CLOUDY SATURDAY MORNING. AS
THE TROUGH AT 500 MB MOVES OVER 1200 UTC AND 1800 UTC SATURDAY. WILL
BE VERY CLOSE TO MOS FORECASTS FOR HIGHS AND LOWS SATURDAY AND
SUNDAY.

SEVERE WEATHER WILL OCCUR TONIGHT OVER THE FORECAST AREA AND
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO END LATE TONIGHT AS THE FRONT MOVES
THROUGH.

.CHI...NONE
WHW

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 12, 11:59 AM CDT, 4 hours 59 minutes before

SPSCHI
ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019>023-032>033-039-INZ001>002-010>011-019-
131100-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
1200 PM CDT/EST FRI MAY 12 2000

FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA.

THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING GENERALLY TO THE SOUTH AND EAST OF A LINE STRETCHING FROM
CHICAGO ILLINOIS TO PONTIAC ILLINOIS.

OUTSIDE THE MODERATE RISK AREA...THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOR THE REST OF NORTHERN
AND NORTHEAST ILLINOIS.

A COLD FRONT WHICH EXTENDS FROM MILWAUKEE WISCONSIN TO NEAR QUINCY ILLINOIS
WILL MOVE SLOWLY SOUTHEAST THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING INTO
NORTHWEST INDIANA AND SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS. THE FRONT WILL TRIGGER THUNDERSTORMS
IN THE WARM AND HUMID AIR. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD PRODUCE
LARGE HAIL...WINDS IN EXCESS OF 58 MPH AND HEAVY RAINFALL. THERE IS
THE POSSIBILITY OF ISOLATED TORNADOES.

WHW

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 12, 3:52 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LOT	Livingston	23 min
May 12, 4:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LOT	Ford, Livingston	27 min
May 12, 4:15 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LOT	Iroquois, Kankakee	45 min
May 12, 4:29 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LOT	Livingston	31 min
May 12, 4:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LOT	DuPage, Grundy, Kendall, Will	46 min
May 12, 4:55 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LOT	Kankakee	50 min
May 12, 5:20 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LOT	Iroquois	40 min
May 12, 5:23 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LOT	Cook	52 min
May 12, 5:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LOT	Livingston	35 min
May 12, 5:52 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LOT	Grundy, Will	23 min
May 12, 6:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LOT	Kankakee	61 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.