Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Chicago, IL

May 10, 2003Cook County, DuPage County, Illinois

NWS Chicago, IL issued this tornado warning at May 10, 2003, 10:57 PM CDT for Cook County, DuPage County, Illinois. It was in force for 48 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 10, 2003, 10:57 PM CDT (03:57 UTC)
Expired: May 10, 2003, 11:45 PM CDT
In force: 48 min
Issued by: NWS Chicago, IL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Cook County, IL, DuPage County, IL

The radar

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 48 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:00 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 10, 8:05 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 00:00Z, 4.0 hours before the alert went out and 200 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: 1566 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -80 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 910 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 234 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 259 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 2.8
Supercell composite: 12.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

511 
WFUS53 KLOT 110357
TORLOT
ILC031-043-110445-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
1056 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHICAGO HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  COOK COUNTY IN NORTHEAST ILLINOIS
  DUPAGE COUNTY IN NORTHEAST ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 1145 PM CDT

* AT 1056 PM CDT...SPOTTER/LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD 7
  MILES SOUTHWEST OF BARTLETT...OR ABOUT OVER ST. CHARLES...MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.  THIS STORM SHOWS STRONG ROTATION AND 
  NUMEROUS SPOTTER REPORTS OF ROTATION AND FUNNEL CLOUDS HAVE 
  OCCURRED.  THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO AT ANY 
  TIME.

GO TO THE BASEMENT AND SEEK SHELTER UNDER THE STAIRS OR UNDER A HEAVY
PIECE OF FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN
INTERIOR CLOSET...BATHROOM...OR HALLWAY ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. STAY
AWAY FROM WINDOWS. ABANDON AUTOMOBILES AND MOBILE HOMES FOR STURDY
SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN A DITCH OR LOW
SPOT. DO NOT GO UNDER BRIDGES...THEY ACT LIKE A DANGEROUS WIND
TUNNEL.

LAT...LON 4204 8825 4188 8825 4204 8797 4216 8802
$$

STEFKOVICH

NNNN

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 10, 9:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LOT	Grundy, Will	44 min
May 10, 9:36 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LOT	Lee	39 min
May 10, 9:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LOT	DeKalb, LaSalle	48 min
May 10, 9:57 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LOT	DeKalb, LaSalle	63 min
May 10, 10:23 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LOT	Kane	52 min
May 10, 10:37 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LOT	Livingston	53 min
May 10, 10:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LOT	Cook, DuPage, Will	49 min
May 10, 11:00 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LOT	Cook, DuPage	45 min
May 10, 11:14 PM CDT	Special Marine Warning	LOT		61 min
May 10, 11:14 PM CDT	Special Marine Warning	LOT		61 min
May 10, 11:14 PM CDT	Special Marine Warning	LOT		61 min
May 10, 11:14 PM CDT	Special Marine Warning	LOT		61 min
May 10, 11:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LOT	Lake	42 min
May 10, 11:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LOT	DeKalb, Kane	48 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.