Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 23, NWS St. Louis, MO

May 6, 2003Randolph County, Illinois

NWS St. Louis, MO issued this tornado warning at May 6, 2003, 8:41 PM CDT for Randolph County, Illinois. It was in force for 49 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, 8:41 PM CDT (01:41 UTC)
Expired
May 6, 2003, 9:30 PM CDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS St. Louis, MO
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Randolph County, IL

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 116 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:41 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 6, 5:40 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 263 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 2003-05-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 208 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 2003-05-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 85 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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.

411 
WFUS53 KLSX 070141
TORLSX
ILC157-070230-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ST LOUIS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  RANDOLPH COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 930 PM CDT

* AT 840 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION NEAR CHESTER. THE STORM
  WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH...AND MAY PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY
  TIME

* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
  STEELEVILLE
  PERCY
  WELGE
  BREMEN
  PERCY
  SPARTA

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 ARE DRIVING AND THE TORNADO IS NEARBY...ABANDON YOUR VEHICLE
AND SEEK SHELTER IN A STURDY BUILDING OR AN UNFLOODED DITCH AWAY FROM
YOUR VEHICLE. IF DRIVING AND THE TORNADO IS IN THE DISTANCE IN FRONT
OF YOU...PULL OVER. IF DRIVING AND THE TORNADO IS IN THE DISTANCE
BEHIND YOU...TRY TO MOVE IN A DIRECTION WHICH IS AT A RIGHT ANGLE AND
AWAY FROM THE TORNADOES MOVEMENT.

THE TORNADO WITH THIS STORM WILL LIKELY BE WRAPPED IN RAIN. DO NOT BE
LULLED INTO THINKING THE THREAT IS OVER DUE TO THE RAINFALL. STAY IN
SHELTER UNTIL THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION INDICATES THE THREAT HAS
PASSED.

THIS STORM WILL ALSO PRODUCE LARGE DESTRUCTIVE HAIL AND DAMAGING
WINDS IN EXCESS OF 70 MPH.

LAT...LON 3794 8989 3783 8971 3793 8962 3813 8961

$$

MB/ST

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 6, 7:46 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXMonroe59 min
May 6, 7:53 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXRandolph52 min
May 6, 7:55 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLSXMonroe4 hr
May 6, 8:06 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXSaint Clair54 min
May 6, 8:35 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXWashington55 min
May 6, 9:24 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXWashington36 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 2003Every tornado warning in 2003Tornadoes 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.