Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Watches in 2000

Tornado Watch 245

May 8, 200042 counties in Illinois; 12 counties in Iowa; 19 counties in Missouri

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 8, 2000, 2:00 PM CDT for 42 counties in Illinois; 12 counties in Iowa; 19 counties in Missouri. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 8, 2000, 2:00 PM CDT (19:00 UTC)
Expired
May 8, 2000, 8:00 PM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 73 counties

Cedar County, IA, Clinton County, IA, Des Moines County, IA, Henry County, IA, Jackson County, IA, Jefferson County, IA, Lee County, IA, Louisa County, IA, Muscatine County, IA, Scott County, IA, Van Buren County, IA, Washington County, IA, Adams County, IL, Boone County, IL, Brown County, IL, Bureau County, IL, Carroll County, IL, Cass County, IL, Cook County, IL, DeKalb County, IL, DuPage County, IL, Fulton County, IL, Grundy County, IL, Hancock County, IL, Henderson County, IL, Henry County, IL, Jo Daviess County, IL, Kane County, IL, Kendall County, IL, Knox County, IL, Lake County, IL, LaSalle County, IL, Lee County, IL, Marshall County, IL, Mason County, IL, McDonough County, IL, McHenry County, IL, Menard County, IL, Mercer County, IL, Morgan County, IL, Ogle County, IL, Peoria County, IL, Pike County, IL, Putnam County, IL, Rock Island County, IL, Schuyler County, IL, Scott County, IL, Stark County, IL, Stephenson County, IL, Tazewell County, IL, Warren County, IL, Whiteside County, IL, Winnebago County, IL, Woodford County, IL, Adair County, MO, Audrain County, MO, Carroll County, MO, Chariton County, MO, Clark County, MO, Howard County, MO, Knox County, MO, Lewis County, MO, Linn County, MO, Macon County, MO, Marion County, MO, Monroe County, MO, Pike County, MO, Ralls County, MO, Randolph County, MO, Saline County, MO, Schuyler County, MO, Scotland County, MO, Shelby County, MO

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 146 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:01 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.

Warnings issued inside it

6 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 8, 5:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXPettis, Saline67 min
May 8, 6:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXCooper, Howard55 min
May 8, 7:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNClinton27 min
May 8, 7:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXAdair26 min
May 8, 7:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXAudrain48 min
May 8, 7:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXKnox38 min

The nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 12:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 150 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 12:00Z on 2000-05-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 862 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, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2000-05-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 125 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
862 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-154 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
823 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
125 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
73 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

004 
WWUS9 KMKC 081842
SEL5  

SEL5  
MKC WW 081842
IAZ000-ILZ000-MOZ000-090100-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 245
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
142 PM CDT MON MAY 8 2000

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   SOUTHEASTERN IOWA                               
   WEST CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ILLINOIS                           
   NORTHERN MISSOURI                           

EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 200 PM UNTIL 800
PM CDT.

 ...THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION...
 
DAMAGING TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...
THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE
POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 90 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 70 MILES SOUTH OF KIRKSVILLE MISSOURI TO 25 MILES
NORTHEAST OF ROCKFORD ILLINOIS.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS WILL INTENSIFY ALONG APPROACHING FRONT
AND AHEAD OF UPPER TROUGH AS THEY APPROACH WARM MOIST AIR MASS.
HIGH INSTABILITY IS PRESENT ACROSS REGION WITH MUCAPES FROM 3500 TO
5000 J/KG. 40 TO 50 KT MID LEVEL FLOW WILL RESULT IN SUFFICIENT
DEEP LAYER SHEAR FOR A FEW STRONG TORNADOES AND SCATTERED LARGE
HAIL AND WIND EVENTS.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.

...ROGASH

422,0865 390,0905 390,0941 422,0903

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 8, 7:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBoone, Bureau, Carroll, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy and 15 more5 hr
May 8, 6:45 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAdams, Brown, Cass, Fulton, Hancock, McDonough and 7 more5 hr
May 7, 10:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBuena Vista, Cherokee, Clay, Dickinson, Emmet, Ida and 9 more5 hr
May 8, 1:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdair, Audubon, Boone, Buena Vista, Butler, Calhoun and 33 more5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Illinois, 2000Tornado Watches in Missouri, 2000Tornado Watches in Iowa, 2000Every tornado watch 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.