Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 33, NWS St. Louis, MO

December 18, 2002Greene County, Illinois

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this tornado warning at Dec 18, 2002, 4:47 PM CST for Greene County, Illinois. It was in force for 28 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Dec 18, 2002, 4:47 PM CST (22:47 UTC)
Expired
Dec 18, 2002, 5:15 PM CST
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS St. Louis, MO
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Greene County, IL

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:49 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Dec 18, 4:35 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 179 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 2002-12-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 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 2002-12-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 371 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
562 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
371 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
433 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.

099 
WFUS53 KLSX 182247
TORSTL
ILC061-182315-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
446 PM CST WED DEC 18 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  GREENE COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 515 PM CST

* AT 446 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A 
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH STRONG ROTATION NEAR ELDRED. THE STORM
  WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH...AND MAY PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY 
  TIME

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH...
  BELLTOWN
  CARROLLTON
  HILLVIEW
  WHITE HALL
  WRIGHTS
  ROODHOUSE
  GREENFIELD

THIS TORNADO WARNING IS AN UPGRADE TO THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
PREVIOUSLY ISSUED FOR THE WARNED AREA.

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 3942 9061 3921 9058 3935 9015 3954 9030

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 17, 11:22 PM CSTTornado WarningLSXCalhoun, Greene, Jersey23 min
Dec 17, 11:50 PM CSTTornado WarningLSXGreene40 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.