Alert archive / Illinois / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003

Mesoscale Discussion 804

May 6, 200313 counties in Illinois; 10 counties in Missouri

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 6, 2003, 7:03 PM CDT for 13 counties in Illinois; 10 counties in Missouri. It was in force for 117 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 6, 2003, 7:03 PM CDT (00:03 UTC)
Expired
May 6, 2003, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
117 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 23 counties

Clinton County, IL, Franklin County, IL, Hamilton County, IL, Jackson County, IL, Jefferson County, IL, Madison County, IL, Marion County, IL, Monroe County, IL, Perry County, IL, Randolph County, IL, Saint Clair County, IL, Washington County, IL, Williamson County, IL, Bollinger County, MO, Cape Girardeau County, MO, City of Saint Louis, MO, Iron County, MO, Jefferson County, MO, Madison County, MO, Perry County, MO, Reynolds County, MO, Saint Francois County, MO, Sainte Genevieve County, MO

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 92 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:09 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

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 00:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 257 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°0°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.

599 
ACUS11 KWNS 070004
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 070003 
ILZ000-MOZ000-070200-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0804
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0703 PM CDT TUE MAY 06 2003

AREAS AFFECTED...E CNTRL/SE MO INTO SRN IL

CONCERNING...TORNADO WATCH 275...

VALID 070003Z - 070200Z

SEVERE THREAT CONTINUES ACROSS WW AREA.

EVOLUTION OF LARGE SEVERE MESOSCALE CONVECTIVE SYSTEM CONTINUES. 
INTENSE EMBEDDED SUPERCELL ON SOUTHWESTERN FRINGE OF ST. LOUIS METRO
AREA...IS PROPAGATING ALONG WEAK SURFACE BOUNDARY ACROSS
FRANKLIN/JEFFERSON COUNTIES...WHERE LOW-LEVEL THERMODYNAMIC
ENVIRONMENT IS MOIST/UNSTABLE AND SUPPORTIVE OF ADDITIONAL TORNADIC
ACTIVITY.  BOUNDARY EXTENDS SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF ST. LOUIS INTO THE
CARBONDALE IL AREA...BUT MAY LIFT NORTHWARD TOWARD MT. VERNON DURING
THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS.

AS SOUTHERLY LOW-LEVEL JET STRENGTHENS AND VEERS FROM SOUTHEAST
MISSOURI INTO SOUTHERN ILLINOIS EARLY THIS EVENING...POTENTIAL FOR
MORE WIDESPREAD DAMAGING WINDS WILL GRADUALLY INCREASE.

..KERR.. 05/07/2003

...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT...

ATTN...WFO...PAH...LSX...SGF...

38369057 38939017 38808939 38658884 38258836 37778872
37278979 37229070 37479161 37959088

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 6, 9:35 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlexander, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson and 12 more115 min
May 6, 11:50 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCGallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Johnson, Massac, Pope and 2 more6 hr
May 7, 12:42 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChampaign, Clark, Clay, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland and 22 more2 hr
May 6, 7:53 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCButler, Carter, Howell, Oregon, Reynolds, Ripley and 2 more2 hr
May 6, 11:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCDunklin, Pemiscot6 hr
May 7, 2:27 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDunklin, Pemiscot3 hr
May 7, 4:55 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCDunklin, Pemiscot6 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Illinois, 2003Mesoscale Discussions in Missouri, 2003Every mesoscale discussion 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.