Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 22, NWS St. Louis, MO

May 6, 2003Washington County, Illinois

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this tornado warning at May 6, 2003, 8:35 PM CDT for Washington County, Illinois. It was in force for 55 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 6, 2003, 8:35 PM CDT (01:35 UTC)
Expired: May 6, 2003, 9:30 PM CDT
In force: 55 min
Issued by: NWS St. Louis, MO
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Washington County, IL

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 113 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:36 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 6, 5:40 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 00:00Z, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 218 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: 208 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -120 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1589 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 85 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 187 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

492 
WFUS53 KLSX 070135
TORLSX
ILC189-070230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO
835 PM CDT TUE MAY 6 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WASHINGTON COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 930 PM CDT

* AT 834 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 13 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
  LIVELY GROVE. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH...AND MAY 
  PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY TIME

* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
  OAKDALE
  CORDES
  POSEN
  BEAUCOUP
  RADOM
  ASHLEY
  RICHVIEW
  NASHVILLE

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM...SEEK SHELTER NOW MOVE TO A
BASEMENT...UNDERGROUND STORM SHELTER...OR AN INTERIOR ROOM OR HALLWAY
ON THE LOWEST LEVEL OF A STURDY BUILDING.

IF YOU LIVE IN A MOBILE HOME OR TRAILER...ABANDON IT IMMEDIATELY AND
SEEK SHELTER IN A MORE SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER.

THIS STORM WILL ALSO PRODUCE LARGE DESTRUCTIVE HAIL AND DAMAGING
WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH.

LAT...LON 3833 8971 3823 8971 3823 8915 3844 8916

$$

MB/ST

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 6, 7:46 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LSX	Monroe	59 min
May 6, 7:53 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LSX	Randolph	52 min
May 6, 7:55 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LSX	Monroe	4 hr
May 6, 8:06 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LSX	Saint Clair	54 min
May 6, 8:41 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LSX	Randolph	49 min
May 6, 9:24 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LSX	Washington	36 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.