Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 12, NWS St. Louis, MO

May 1, 2002Macoupin County, Montgomery County, Illinois

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this tornado warning at May 1, 2002, 2:54 PM CDT for Macoupin County, Montgomery County, Illinois. It was in force for 21 min. 2 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, 2:54 PM CDT (19:54 UTC)
Expired
May 1, 2002, 3:15 PM CDT
In force
21 min
Issued by
NWS St. Louis, MO
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Macoupin County, IL, Montgomery County, IL

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 1, 3:00 PM CDTTornado F0Palmyra, ILA small tornado formed just west of Palmyra and was witnessed by several people. The tornado took down some trees and power lines.
May 1, 3:12 PM CDTHail 1Farmersville, ILAmateur radio spotters reported 1 inch hail in Farmersville.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 1, 12:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr
May 1, 2:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 137 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 2002-05-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2002-05-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 207 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
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 011954
TORSTL
ILC117-135-012015-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHWESTERN MONTGOMERY COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS
  NORTHERN MACOUPIN COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 315 PM CDT

* AT 250 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION NEAR PALMYRA. THE
  THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 55 MPH...AND MAY PRODUCE A TORNADO
  AT ANY TIME

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH...
  GIRARD
  NILWOOD
  STANDARD CITY
  VIRDEN
  WAGGONER
  FARMERSVILLE
  ATWATER
  WHITE OAK
  HARVEL
  RAYMOND

THIS TORNADO WARNING IS AN UPGRADE TO THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
PREVIOUSLY ISSUED FOR MACOUPIN COUNTY.

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.

LAT...LON 3953 9016 3932 9015 3926 8953 3952 8955

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 1, 1:33 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXBond42 min
May 1, 1:56 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXMarion49 min

Nearby

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