Alert archive / Illinois / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 38, NWS St. Louis, MO

August 26, 2003Adams County, Brown County, Illinois

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this flash flood warning at Aug 26, 2003, 9:38 PM CDT for Adams County, Brown County, Illinois. It was in force for 4 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Aug 26, 2003, 9:38 PM CDT (02:38 UTC)
Expired: Aug 27, 2003, 1:45 AM CDT
In force: 4 hr
Issued by: NWS St. Louis, MO
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Adams County, IL, Brown County, IL

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 130 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:39 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 nearest sounding before it

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 00:00Z, 2.6 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-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: 2299 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -54 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1817 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 68 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 85 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.

000 
WGUS53 KLSX 270248
FFWLSX
ILC001-009-270645-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
938 PM CDT TUE AUG 26 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN ADAMS COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS
  BROWN COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 145 AM CDT

* AT 938 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED   
THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN IN AND AROUND HIGHWAY
24 FROM NORTHEAST ADAMS COUNTY AND MUCH OF BROWN COUNTY.

* FLASH FLOODING CAN BE EXPECTED ACROSS THE AREA...AND WILL BE   
AFFECTING THE AREA.  A WEATHER SPOTTER 5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF 
MOUNT STERLING RECORDED 3.00 INCHES OF RAINFALL THROUGH 930 PM
AND VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS CONTINUING. SOME AREAS OF BROWN AND NORTHEAST
ADAMS COUNTY WILL RECEIVE 5 TO 6 INCHES OF RAINFALL TONIGHT. THIS
WILL MAKE STREAMS AND TRIBUTARIES FILL OR FLOOD QUICKLY THROUGH
THE NIGHT. MACREE AND OTHER STREAMS WILL RECEIVE THE BRUNT OF THE
RUNOFF.

IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED OR IMMINENT...MOVE QUICKLY TO HIGHER
GROUND. NEVER DRIVE INTO AN AREA WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODING. ACT QUICKLY IF FLASH FLOODING IS OBSERVED. MOVE
TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT
TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

LAT...LON 4006 9057 3985 9057 3979 9095 4024 9156
          4020 9094

$$
PEDIGO

2 follow-up statements

000 
WGUS73 KLSX 270456
FFSLSX
ILC001-009-270645-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
1149 PM CDT TUE AUG 26 2003

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR BROWN AND NORTHEASTERN
ADAMS COUNTIES UNTIL 145 AM CDT...

AT 1149 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THE 
THUNDERSTORMS WHICH PROCUDED VERY HEAVY RAIN HAVE MOVED TO THE 
SOUTHEAST. RAINFALL HAS ENDED OVER THE WARNED AREA...HOWEVER HEAVY 
TO EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THE STORMS WILL CONTINUE FOR ANOTHER HOUR 
OR TWO.  

DOPPLER RAINFALL ESTIMATES INDICATE 3 TO 4 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN
OVER SOUTHERN BROWN COUNTY AND EXTREME EASTERN PORTIONS OF ADAMS 
COUNTY. A WEATHER SPOTTER 5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF MOUNT STERLING 
MEASURED 3.50 INCHES OF RAINFALL THIS EVENING IN A COUPLE OF HOURS.
 
EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THIS STORM WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING OF SMALL 
CREEKS AND STREAMS AND COUNTRY ROADS...AS WELL AS FARMLAND ALONG THE 
BANKS OF CREEKS AND STREAMS.

$$
PEDIGO

000 
WGUS73 KLSX 270643
FFSLSX
ILC001-009-270700-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
145 AM CDT WED AUG 27 2003

...FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR BROWN AND NORTHEASTERN ADAMS COUNTIES HAS
EXPIRED...

WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THAT THE THUNDERSTORMS WHICH 
PROMPTED THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING HAVE MOVED OUT OF THE AREA. LATEST
INDICATIONS ARE THAT 3 TO 4 INCHES OF RAINFALL FELL OVER PORTIONS OF
THE WARNED AREA IN A COUPLE OF HOURS.

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS STILL PERSIST TO THE SOUTH AND 
EAST...BUT THE ACTIVITY FOR THE NIGHT APPEARS TO HAVE DIMINISHED.

ALTHOUGH THE HEAVY RAINS HAVE SUBSIDED...MOTORISTS SHOULD CONTINUE TO
USE CAUTION WHILE DRIVING THROUGH AREAS THAT HAVE EXPERIENCED
FLOODING. ROADS AND BRIDGES MAY HAVE BEEN DAMAGED BY RAPIDLY FLOWING
FLOOD WATERS.

$$
PEDIGO

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 26, 8:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Brown	47 min
Aug 26, 9:08 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Brown	52 min
Aug 26, 11:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LSX	Greene	61 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Illinois, 2003 Every flash flood warning 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.