Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 21, NWS St. Louis, MO

May 12, 2002Randolph County, Illinois; Sainte Genevieve County, Missouri

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this tornado warning at May 12, 2002, 6:44 PM CDT for Randolph County, Illinois; Sainte Genevieve County, Missouri. It was in force for 46 min. 5 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 12, 2002, 6:44 PM CDT (23:44 UTC)
Expired: May 12, 2002, 7:30 PM CDT
In force: 46 min
Issued by: NWS St. Louis, MO
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Randolph County, IL, Sainte Genevieve County, MO

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 98 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:48 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 12, 6:50 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 60 E	Weingarten, MO	The County Sheriff reported trees down on several roads in the Weingarten area.
May 12, 7:00 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 61 E	Ellis Grove, IL
May 12, 7:00 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 61 E	Kaskaskia, IL
May 12, 7:00 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Chester, IL	A brief tornado hit a neighborhood on the south side of Chester. One home suffered roof damage while another had some siding stripped off. Several large pine trees were snapped at the base and a large oak tree was broken 15 feet from the base.
May 12, 7:03 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 61 E	Chester, 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 12, 6:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 271 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: 77 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -142 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 829 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 75 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 163 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -16 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KLSX 122344
TORSTL
ILC157-MOC186-130030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
645 PM CDT SUN MAY 12 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN STE. GENEVIEVE COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
  RANDOLPH COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 730 PM CDT

* AT 645 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION NEAR WEINGARTEN. THE
  THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH...AND MAY PRODUCE A TORNADO
  AT ANY TIME

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH...
  STE. GENEVIEVE
  KASKASKIA
  ST. MARY
  ROOTS
  ELLIS GROVE
  CHESTER
  NEW PALESTINE
  WELGE
  BREMEN
  STEELEVILLE

THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND LIFE-THREATENING SITUATION. MOVE
IMMEDIATELY TO A BASEMENT OR BELOW GROUND SHELTER. IF UNDERGROUND
SHELTER IS NOT AVAILABLE...TAKE COVER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A STURDY
BUILDING OR HOME IN A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM...SUCH AS A CLOSET OR
HALLWAY. HIDE UNDER A MATRESS OR USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER
YOUR BODY.

IF YOU LIVE IN A MOBILE HOME OR TRAILER...ABANDON IT IMMEDIATELY AND
SEEK SHELTER IN A MORE SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER.

LAT...LON 3799 9028 3781 9024 3789 8963 3823 8972

TRUETT

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 12, 1:50 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LSX	Adams	6 hr
May 12, 4:50 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LSX	Calhoun, Greene, Jersey, Macoupin	6 hr
May 12, 4:29 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LSX	Bond, Jersey, Macoupin, Madison, Montgomery	6 hr
May 12, 5:09 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LSX	Fayette	5 hr
May 11, 10:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX		42 min
May 11, 11:18 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LSX	Knox	6 hr
May 12, 1:15 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LSX	Lewis, Shelby	6 hr
May 12, 1:06 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX		39 min
May 12, 1:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX		35 min
May 12, 2:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX		45 min
May 12, 2:04 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX		26 min
May 12, 2:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX		51 min
May 12, 2:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX		49 min
May 12, 3:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX		51 min
May 12, 5:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX		28 min
May 12, 5:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX		28 min
May 12, 5:36 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX		24 min
May 12, 6:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX		45 min
May 12, 6:07 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LSX	Sainte Genevieve, Saint Francois, Washington	38 min
May 12, 6:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX		44 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 2002 Tornado Warnings in Missouri, 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.