Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Lincoln, IL

May 1, 2003McLean County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this tornado warning at May 1, 2003, 1:44 AM CDT for McLean County, Illinois. It was in force for 31 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 1, 2003, 1:44 AM CDT (06:44 UTC)
Expired: May 1, 2003, 2:15 AM CDT
In force: 31 min
Issued by: NWS Lincoln, IL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County McLean County, IL

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 75 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:46 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
Apr 30, 10:55 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 00:00Z, 6.7 hours before the alert went out and 65 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: 1938 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1356 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 69 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 215 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.8
Supercell composite: 7.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

373 
WFUS53 KILX 010644
TORILX
ILC113-010715-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
143 AM CDT THU MAY 1 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LINCOLN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  MCLEAN COUNTY IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 215 AM CDT

* AT 143 AM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH
  STRONG ROTATION JUST EAST OF EL PASO...OR ABOUT 17 MILES
  NORTH OF BLOOMINGTON...MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. THIS STORM COULD 
  PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY TIME. IN ADDITION TO THE THREAT OF A
  TORNADO...LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THIS
  STORM. GO TO A SAFE PLACE NOW

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  GRIDLEY
  CHENOA

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM...TAKE COVER IN A BASEMENT OR
INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. VEHICLES AND MOBILE HOMES SHOULD
BE ABANDONED FOR A SAFER SHELTER.

TORNADOES ARE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS AT NIGHT BECAUSE THEY ARE HARD TO
SEE. DO NOT REMAIN IN YOUR CAR OR MOBILE HOME. INSTEAD...TAKE COVER
IN A REINFORCED BUILDING. GO TO 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 4075 8900 4064 8899 4066 8859 4075 8859

$$

BYRD

NNNN

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 30, 7:12 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Knox	63 min
Apr 30, 8:17 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Knox	58 min
Apr 30, 8:35 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ILX	Stark	55 min
Apr 30, 9:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Knox	74 min
Apr 30, 9:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Stark	59 min
Apr 30, 9:44 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	ILX	Knox, Stark	6 hr
Apr 30, 9:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Marshall	61 min
Apr 30, 10:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILX	Knox	59 min
May 1, 1:17 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	ILX	Marshall	6 hr

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.