Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Watches in 2000

Tornado Watch 271

May 12, 200034 counties in Illinois; 15 counties in Indiana; 14 counties in Michigan

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 12, 2000, 2:00 PM CDT for 34 counties in Illinois; 15 counties in Indiana; 14 counties in Michigan. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 12, 2000, 2:00 PM CDT (19:00 UTC)
Expired: May 12, 2000, 8:00 PM CDT
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 63 counties

Cass County, IL, Champaign County, IL, Christian County, IL, Coles County, IL, Cook County, IL, Cumberland County, IL, DeWitt County, IL, Douglas County, IL, DuPage County, IL, Edgar County, IL, Ford County, IL, Greene County, IL, Grundy County, IL, Iroquois County, IL, Kankakee County, IL, Kendall County, IL, Lake County, IL, LaSalle County, IL, Livingston County, IL, Logan County, IL, Macon County, IL, Mason County, IL, McLean County, IL, Menard County, IL, Morgan County, IL, Moultrie County, IL, Piatt County, IL, Sangamon County, IL, Scott County, IL, Shelby County, IL, Tazewell County, IL, Vermilion County, IL, Will County, IL, Woodford County, IL, Benton County, IN, Elkhart County, IN, Fountain County, IN, Fulton County, IN, Jasper County, IN, Lake County, IN, LaPorte County, IN, Marshall County, IN, Newton County, IN, Porter County, IN, Pulaski County, IN, Saint Joseph County, IN, Starke County, IN, Warren County, IN, White County, IN, Allegan County, MI, Barry County, MI, Berrien County, MI, Calhoun County, MI, Cass County, MI, Clinton County, MI, Eaton County, MI, Ionia County, MI, Kalamazoo County, MI, Kent County, MI, Ottawa County, MI, Saint Joseph County, MI, Shiawassee County, MI, Van Buren County, MI

The radar

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:02 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

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
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, 3:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Calhoun, Greene	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, 3:52 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LOT	Livingston	23 min
May 12, 3:58 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Logan	47 min
May 12, 4:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LOT	Ford, Livingston	27 min
May 12, 4:12 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	McLean	63 min
May 12, 4:15 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LOT	Iroquois, Kankakee	45 min
May 12, 4:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LOT	Lake, Porter	35 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, 4:29 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LOT	Livingston	31 min
May 12, 4:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Greene	50 min
May 12, 4:35 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Sangamon	25 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, 4:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LOT	DuPage, Grundy, Kendall, Will	46 min
May 12, 4:46 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Logan	29 min
May 12, 4:55 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LOT	Kankakee	50 min
May 12, 4:58 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LOT	Iroquois	32 min
May 12, 5:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Christian	42 min
May 12, 5:08 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Allegan, Ottawa	37 min
May 12, 5:20 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LOT	Iroquois	40 min
May 12, 5:23 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Christian, Shelby	67 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, 5:28 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, 5:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Allegan	30 min
May 12, 5:52 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LOT	Grundy, Will	23 min
May 12, 5:57 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LOT	Jasper	18 min
May 12, 5:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Pulaski, Starke	51 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, 6:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GRR	Allegan, Barry	32 min
May 12, 6:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LOT	Kankakee	61 min
May 12, 6:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Fulton, Marshall	41 min
May 12, 6:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LOT	Jasper, Porter	26 min
May 12, 6:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Douglas	65 min
May 12, 6:26 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	GRR	Allegan	3 hr
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, 6:51 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Warren	24 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
May 12, 6:54 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GRR	Allegan, Kalamazoo	51 min
May 12, 6:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Fulton	52 min
May 12, 7:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Cumberland	49 min
May 12, 7:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Fountain	28 min
May 12, 7:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Fountain, Vermillion	38 min
May 12, 7:23 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GRR	Barry	22 min
May 12, 7:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Macon	45 min
May 12, 7:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Clark, Edgar	68 min
May 12, 7:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Piatt	65 min
May 12, 7:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Coles	29 min

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 87 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.

491 
WWUS9 KMKC 121851
SEL1  

SEL1  
MKC WW 121844
ILZ000-INZ000-MIZ000-LMZ000-130100-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 271
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
144 PM CDT FRI MAY 12 2000

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

   EASTERN AND CENTRAL ILLINOIS                           
   NORTHWESTERN INDIANA                            
   SOUTHWESTERN LOWER MICHIGAN                           
   SOUTHERN LAKE MICHIGAN                      

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

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 80 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES SOUTH OF SPRINGFIELD ILLINOIS TO 30 MILES
NORTH NORTHEAST OF GRAND RAPIDS MICHIGAN.

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.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 270...

DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS WILL RAPIDLY INCREASE ALONG/NEAR COLD
FRONT AS FORCING FROM UPPER TROUGH SPREADS OVER WARM SECTOR. AIR
MASS MOIST AND HIGHLY UNSTABLE WITH MUCAPES FROM 4000 TO 5000 J/KG.
APPROACHING 70 KT MID LEVEL SPEED MAX WILL PROVIDE FAVORABLE DEEP
LAYER SHEAR FOR A FEW TORNADOES ALONG WITH SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS
LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND EVENTS.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.


...ROGASH

431,0834 391,0881 391,0911 431,0865

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 11, 10:30 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Boone, Carroll, DeKalb, Jo Daviess, Lee, McHenry and 6 more	6 hr
May 12, 4:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Effingham, Fayette, Jersey and 6 more	6 hr
May 12, 6:30 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Clark, Clay, Crawford, Jasper, Lawrence, Richland	6 hr
May 12, 1:30 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Allegan, Arenac, Barry, Bay, Calhoun, Clare and 39 more	6 hr
May 12, 12:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Arenac, Bay, Benzie, Clare, Crawford, Gladwin and 24 more	5 hr
May 12, 2:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Menominee	6 hr
May 12, 3:45 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Alcona, Alpena, Antrim, Arenac, Bay, Benzie and 35 more	5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Illinois, 2000 Tornado Watches in Indiana, 2000 Tornado Watches in Michigan, 2000 Every 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.