Alert archive / Illinois / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 26, NWS Paducah, KY

April 23, 2001Pulaski County, Illinois; Ballard County, Kentucky

NWS Paducah, KY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 23, 2001, 1:46 PM CDT for Pulaski County, Illinois; Ballard County, Kentucky. It was in force for 29 min. 1 report 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
Apr 23, 2001, 1:46 PM CDT (18:46 UTC)
Expired
Apr 23, 2001, 2:15 PM CDT
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Paducah, KY
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Pulaski County, IL, Ballard County, KY

The radar

The Paducah radar (KPAH), 27 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:48 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 23, 1:55 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 50 EWickliffe, KYA few trees were blown down, including two in La Center and one in Wickliffe.

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 nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 337 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, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2001-04-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 47 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, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2001-04-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 250 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
47 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-272 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
988 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
250 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
297 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

What forecasters said that day

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

NWS Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Apr 23, 2:00 AM CDT, 11 hours 46 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 23, 2:00 AM CDT, 11 hours 46 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
200 AM CDT MON APR 23 2001

IR SATELLITE IMAGERY WITH LIGHTNING STRIKE OVERLAY HINTS THAT
CONVECTION APPEARS TO BE ON A DIMINISHING TREND UPON ITS EWARD
ADVANCE IN MO. THIS IS BECAUSE ITS GETTING AWAY FM LOW LEVEL
FORCING IN ITS SOURCE REGION AND RUNNING INTO MORE STABLE AIR...WHERE
TEMPS ALOFT ARE CAPPING ENVIRONMENT. NEW MODELS AGREE IN GRADUALLY
DESTABILIZING ATMOS AS FRONT APPROACHES...THOUGH AS MOISTURE
INCREASES INTO FA AROUND 12Z ENVIRONMENT APPEARS LIKELY TO STILL BE
CAPPED AND NOT QUITE DESTABILIZED SUFFICIENTLY TO SUPPORT THUNDER.
SO DESPITE PERHAPS AN AM CHC MAINLY WAA SHRA...BELIEVE BEST CHC
CONVECTION WL BE THIS PM. SOUNDING AND THERMO DATA REVEAL COOLING
MID LEVEL TEMPS ALLOW FOR DESTABLIZING PROFILE AND STABILITY INDICES
RESPOND BY REACHING CRITICAL T-HOLDS. IF NOT TOO MUCH CLOUDINESS FOR
PM SURFACE HEATING TO STEEPEN LOW LEVEL LAPSE RATES...COULD SEE
DECENT THUNDER ACTIVITY (SPC SLGT RISK) WITH FROPA TIMED INTO FA
DURING PEAK HEATING HOURS...DESPITE FACT BEST DYNAMICS REMAIN NORTH.

STILL APPEARS PM CONVECTION WL BE TIED TO LOW LEVEL FORCING
COINCIDENT WITH FRONTS ENTRANCE INTO FA...WHICH ETA/AVN HAVE
TRENDED WITH FASTER AND THUS BEST SOLUTIONS ON TIMING. TSMS SHOULD
DEVELOP WITHIN 850MB THETA-E AXIS ADVECTING ACROSS FA JUST IN
ADVANCE OF FRONT. TROPICAL CONNECTION AND PWS IN EXCESS OF 1 INCH
YIELD POTENTIAL FOR SOME LOCALLY HEAVIER RAINS ON RELATIVELY QUICK
MOVING STORMS...WITH TRAINING POSSIBLE DUE TO LINEAR STORM
DEVELOPMENT IN NEARLY UNIDIRECTIONAL 40-50KT LOW-MID LAYER FLOW. ETA
DIMINISHES SBASED CAPES DURING PM HOURS BUT CAPES REMAIN AOA 1K J/KG
ABOVE THE LFC. ALL NUMERICAL GUIDANCE HAS RESPONDED WITH INCREASE TO
LIKELY POPS FOR THIS PM/EVENING AND WL MAKE LIKE MODIFICATION TO
ZONE PACKAGE. STORMS WL DEPART QUICKLY OVERNIGHT WITH FRONT AND MOST
IF NOT ALL ACTIVITY EAST OF FA BY 06Z. ANY LINGERING CAA CLDS BEHIND
FRONT WL CLEAR OUT TUE AS DEEP LAYERED SUBSIDENCE AND LATE APRIL
INSOLATION DRIES OUT COLUMN.

WATER VAPOR IMAGERY STILL SHOWS A TROPICAL CONNECTION AND AM
THEREFORE INCLINED TO BACK OFF WARM MAV HIGHS FOR TODAY. HOWEVER DO
PREFER AVN BASED COOLER TEMPS OF FAN/MAV POST FROPA...WITH BETTER
GRASP ON COLD TEMPS BEHIND FRONT...CURRENTLY OBSERVED UPSTREAM.

.PAH...NONE.
DH

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 23, 11:15 AM CDT, 2 hours 31 minutes before
ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087-100-
107>112-114-231900-

THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
1115 AM CDT MON APR 23 2001

VALID UNTIL 600 AM TUESDAY...THIS THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK COVERS
SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA...AND
WESTERN KENTUCKY.

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO PROGRESS ACROSS THE FOUR-
STATE REGION TODAY. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK THAT SOME OF THESE STORMS
MAY BECOME SEVERE. SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING...ESPECIALLY ALONG AND EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

AS OF LATE MORNING...A COLD FRONT WAS SITUATED FROM LOW PRESSURE
OVER WISCONSIN SOUTH ACROSS CENTRAL MISSOURI INTO WESTERN ARKANSAS.
THIS FRONT WILL BE THE FOCUSING MECHANISM FOR SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS AS IT PUSHES EAST ACROSS THE FOUR-STATE REGION THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING. LATEST SATELLITE AND RADAR LOOPS DEPICT A
NARROW BAND OF SHOWERS AND EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS ALONG AND JUST
AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT. THIS ACTIVITY WILL CONTINUE TO MAKE ITS WAY
ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA OVER THE NEXT 12 HOURS.

THE ATMOSPHERE IS FORECAST TO REMAIN MARGINALLY UNSTABLE THIS
AFTERNOON. THE BEST UPPER-LEVEL SUPPORT WILL REMAIN TO THE NORTH OF
THE AREA...THUS LIMITING THE SEVERE THREAT. HOWEVER...ISOLATED
SEVERE STORMS ARE STILL POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY DURING THE MID AND
LATE AFTERNOON HOURS WHEN THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BE MOST UNXSTABLE.

SHOULD ANY STORMS BECOME SEVERE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...VERTICAL
WIND AND TEMPERATURE PROFILES SUGGEST THE GREATEST THREAT WILL BE
DAMAGING WIND. STORM MOVEMENT WILL BE NORTHEAST AT 35 TO 40 MPH.

PRESLEY

The office that day

Everything else NWS Paducah, KY issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 23, 1:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAHCarlisle, Hickman29 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Illinois, 2001Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kentucky, 2001Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2001

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.