Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 35, NWS Lincoln, IL

May 14, 2003Champaign County, Vermilion County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this tornado warning at May 14, 2003, 6:04 PM CDT for Champaign County, Vermilion County, Illinois. It was in force for 56 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: May 14, 2003, 6:04 PM CDT (23:04 UTC)
Expired: May 14, 2003, 7:00 PM CDT
In force: 56 min
Issued by: NWS Lincoln, IL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Champaign County, IL, Vermilion County, IL

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 112 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:03 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 14, 1:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 56 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: 1154 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 44 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 132 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.

082 
WFUS53 KILX 142304
TORILX
ILC019-183-150000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
603 PM CDT WED MAY 14 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LINCOLN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  VERMILION COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS
  CHAMPAIGN COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 700 PM CDT

* AT 603 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH STRONG
  ROTATION FROM 18 MILES NORTHWEST OF RANKIN TO 7 MILES NORTHWEST OF
  FISHER...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH. THESE STORMS COULD PRODUCE A
  LINE OF TORNADO PRODUCING STORMS AT ANY TIME. IN ADDITION TO THE
  THREAT OF A TORNADO...LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED
  WITH THESE STORMS. GO TO A SAFE PLACE NOW

* THE TORNADO PRODUCING STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  RANTOUL
  RANKIN
  PENFIELD
  GIFFORD
  HOOPESTON
  ROSSVILLE

A DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED TORNADO MEANS THAT THERE IS STRONG ROTATION
WITHIN THE STORM. THE STORM MAY NOT BE PRODUCING A TORNADO AT THE
MOMENT...BUT IS EXPECTED TO DURING THE WARNING PERIOD. FOR YOUR
SAFETY...GO INDOORS NOW TO AN INTERIOR ROOM AND AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

REPORT SEVERE WEATHER OR ANY STORM DAMAGE TO YOUR LOCAL ESDA...OR THE
NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY...FOR RELAY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE. STAY TUNED FOR LATER STATEMENTS.

LAT...LON 4064 8824 4052 8839 4029 8846 4025 8794
          4036 8768 4050 8760

$$
GEELHART

The office that day

Everything else NWS Lincoln, IL issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 14, 2:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Stark	26 min
May 14, 3:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Marshall, Stark	60 min
May 14, 3:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Peoria	50 min
May 14, 3:55 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Woodford	50 min
May 14, 4:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Marshall	30 min
May 14, 4:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Tazewell	38 min
May 14, 5:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	McLean	44 min
May 14, 5:33 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	McLean	42 min
May 14, 6:13 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	DeWitt, Piatt	47 min
May 14, 6:14 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	McLean	61 min
May 14, 6:18 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Logan	57 min
May 14, 6:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Cass, Mason, Schuyler	42 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 2003 Every tornado warning in 2003 Tornadoes in 2003

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.