Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 11, NWS St. Louis, MO

May 1, 2002Marion County, Illinois

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this tornado warning at May 1, 2002, 1:56 PM CDT for Marion County, Illinois. It was in force for 49 min. 4 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 1, 2002, 1:56 PM CDT (18:56 UTC)
Expired: May 1, 2002, 2:45 PM CDT
In force: 49 min
Issued by: NWS St. Louis, MO
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Marion County, IL

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 1, 2:10 PM CDT	Tornado F1	Kinmundy, IL	Three tornadoes caused damage near Kinmundy. The first tornado caused considerable damage to a 2 story structure near the intersection of Highway 37 and Kinoka Road. The roof and 2 walls of the structure were thrown across Highway 37 into the woods. There was
May 1, 2:11 PM CDT	Tornado F1	Kinmundy, IL	Three tornadoes caused damage near Kinmundy, Illinois. The second tornado damaged 2 homes. Over 50 percent of the roof of one home was blown 70 yards away. The rest of the damage was to trees and power lines.
May 1, 2:15 PM CDT	Tornado F1	Kinmundy, IL	Three tornadoes caused damage near Kinmundy, Illinois. The third tornado significantly damaged a mobile home. This tornado also destroyed several large trees.
May 1, 2:20 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 60 E	Salem, IL	The Sheriff Department reported several trees down in Salem.

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 1, 12:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 6.9 hours before the alert went out and 166 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1126 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 72 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 207 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 327 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KLSX 011856
TORSTL
ILC121-011945-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
155 PM CDT WED MAY 1 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  MARION COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 245 PM CDT

* AT 155 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 6 MILES NORTHWEST OF
  VERNON. THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 55 MPH...AND MAY       
  PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY TIME  THIS STORM ALREADY HAS PRODUCED   
  DAMAGE IN GREENVILLE.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH...
  TONTI
  KINMUNDY
  ALMA
  BRUBAKER
  SALEM
  OMEGA
  STEPHEN FORBES STATE PARK
  IUKA

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM...SEEK SHELTER NOW MOVE TO A
BASEMENT...UNDERGROUND STORM SHELTER...OR AN INTERIOR ROOM OR HALLWAY
ON THE LOWEST LEVEL OF A STURDY BUILDING.

THIS STORM WILL ALSO PRODUCE LARGE DESTRUCTIVE HAIL AND DAMAGING
WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH.

LAT...LON 3882 8915 3849 8915 3848 8870 3883 8871

LENNING

The office that day

Everything else NWS St. Louis, MO issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 1, 1:33 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LSX	Bond	42 min
May 1, 2:54 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LSX	Macoupin, Montgomery	21 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 2002 Every tornado warning in 2002 Tornadoes in 2002

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.