Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 39, NWS Lincoln, IL

May 14, 2003Champaign County, Vermilion County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this tornado warning at May 14, 2003, 7:00 PM CDT for Champaign County, Vermilion County, Illinois. It was in force for 60 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, 7:00 PM CDT (00:00 UTC)
Expired: May 14, 2003, 8:00 PM CDT
In force: 60 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), 123 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:02 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
May 14, 6:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 00:00Z, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 60 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: 1529 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1142 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 62 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 91 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.

602 
WFUS53 KILX 150000
TORILX
ILC019-183-150100-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
657 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 800 PM CDT

* AT 657 PM CDT...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING
  ACROSS CHAMPAIGN AND VERMILION COUNTIES. ONE LINE EXTENDED FROM
  THE INDIANA BORDER EAST OF HOOPESTON...TO DANVILLE...THEN WEST TO 
  COLLINSON. ANOTHER CLUSTER OF SEVERE STORMS WAS MOVING INTO 
  WESTERN CHAMPAIGN COUNTY NEAR MAHOMET. THESE WERE MOVING
  SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH. THEY HAVE A HISTORY OF PRODUCING FUNNEL
  CLOUDS AND BRIEF TORNADO TOUCHDOWNS.

* THE TORNADO PRODUCING STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  SEYMOUR
  CHAMPAIGN/URBANA
  ST. JOSEPH
  OGDEN
  DANVILLE
  WESTVILLE
  SAVOY
  OAKWOOD

FUNNEL CLOUDS WITH THIS STORM MAY TOUCH DOWN AT ANY TIME. DO NOT WAIT
FOR THE FUNNEL CLOUD TO TOUCH DOWN. TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IN A
BASEMENT OR INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.

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 4049 8751 4021 8848 3989 8843 4002 8754

$$
GEELHART

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 14, 7:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Fulton, Knox	58 min
May 14, 7:02 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	DeWitt, Piatt	58 min
May 14, 7:29 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Macon	46 min
May 14, 7:51 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Douglas, Edgar	54 min
May 14, 7:59 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Champaign, Piatt	46 min
May 14, 8:19 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Fulton, Mason	41 min
May 14, 8:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Morgan, Scott	58 min
May 14, 9:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Clark, Coles, Edgar	37 min
May 14, 10:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Clark, Cumberland	39 min
May 14, 11:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Effingham	46 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.