Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 16, NWS St. Louis, MO

May 7, 2002Madison County, Illinois

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this tornado warning at May 7, 2002, 2:41 AM CDT for Madison County, Illinois. It was in force for 49 min. 3 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 7, 2002, 2:41 AM CDT (07:41 UTC)
Expired: May 7, 2002, 3:30 AM CDT
In force: 49 min
Issued by: NWS St. Louis, MO
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Madison County, IL

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 61 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:42 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

Time	Report	Where
May 7, 2:50 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52 E	Alton, IL
May 7, 2:50 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52 E	Godfrey, IL
May 7, 2:59 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52 E	Godfrey, IL

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 7, 12:45 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 00:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 184 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: 854 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -111 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 913 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 72 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 71 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.2
Supercell composite: 2.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KLSX 070741
TORSTL
ILC119-070830-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
241 AM CDT TUE MAY 7 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN MADISON COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 330 AM CDT

* AT 241 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
  GODFREY. THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 55 MPH...AND MAY
  PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY TIME

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH...
  WOOD RIVER
  BETHALTO
  CARPENTER
  HAMEL
  ALHAMBRA
  KAUFMAN
  GRANTFORK

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 3900 9032 3883 9032 3876 8959 3898 8962

CARNEY

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 7, 2:09 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	LSX	Calhoun, Jersey	51 min
May 7, 3:00 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	LSX	Macoupin, Montgomery	45 min
May 7, 3:58 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LSX	Calhoun, Greene, Jersey, Macoupin, Montgomery	6 hr

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.