Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Watches in 2003
Tornado Watch 306
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 8, 2003, 3:40 PM CDT for 40 counties in Illinois; 20 counties in Indiana; Lee County, Iowa. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 8, 2003, 3:40 PM CDT (20:40 UTC)
- Expired
- May 8, 2003, 9:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 61 counties
Lee County, IA, Bond County, IL, Brown County, IL, Cass County, IL, Champaign County, IL, Christian County, IL, Clark County, IL, Clay County, IL, Clinton County, IL, Coles County, IL, Crawford County, IL, Cumberland County, IL, DeWitt County, IL, Douglas County, IL, Edgar County, IL, Effingham County, IL, Fayette County, IL, Ford County, IL, Fulton County, IL, Hancock County, IL, Jasper County, IL, Lawrence County, IL, Logan County, IL, Macon County, IL, Macoupin County, IL, Marion County, IL, Mason County, IL, McDonough County, IL, McLean County, IL, Menard County, IL, Montgomery County, IL, Morgan County, IL, Moultrie County, IL, Piatt County, IL, Richland County, IL, Sangamon County, IL, Schuyler County, IL, Scott County, IL, Shelby County, IL, Tazewell County, IL, Vermilion County, IL, Brown County, IN, Clay County, IN, Daviess County, IN, Fountain County, IN, Greene County, IN, Jackson County, IN, Knox County, IN, Lawrence County, IN, Martin County, IN, Monroe County, IN, Orange County, IN, Owen County, IN, Parke County, IN, Putnam County, IN, Scott County, IN, Sullivan County, IN, Vermillion County, IN, Vigo County, IN, Warren County, IN, Washington County, IN
The radar
The Lincoln radar (KILX), 86 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:43 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.
Warnings issued inside it
15 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 3:41 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LSX | Bond, Fayette | 49 min |
| May 8, 3:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Hancock | 45 min |
| May 8, 3:49 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ILX | Clay, Effingham | 41 min |
| May 8, 3:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IND | Knox | 34 min |
| May 8, 3:59 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILX | Lawrence | 31 min |
| May 8, 3:59 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LSX | Marion | 31 min |
| May 8, 4:29 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | Fayette | 31 min |
| May 8, 4:30 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ILX | Clay, Effingham, Jasper, Richland | 60 min |
| May 8, 5:08 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ILX | Crawford, Lawrence | 37 min |
| May 8, 5:18 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | ILX | Effingham | 3 hr |
| May 8, 5:30 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | ILX | Lawrence | 3 hr |
| May 8, 8:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Lee, Van Buren | 47 min |
| May 8, 8:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LSX | Adams, Brown, Pike | 26 min |
| May 8, 8:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DVN | Hancock, McDonough | 25 min |
| May 8, 8:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILX | Schuyler | 55 min |
Discussions around it
SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.
The nearest sounding before it
Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 38 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 797 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 50 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 50 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 161 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 082037
SEL6
SPC WW 082040
ILZ000-INZ000-KYZ000-090200-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 306
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
440 PM EDT THU MAY 8 2003
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL ILLINOIS
SOUTHWEST INDIANA
EXTREME NORTHWEST KENTUCKY
EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 440 PM UNTIL
1000 PM EDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 105 STATUTE MILES EAST AND
WEST OF A LINE FROM 5 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF PEORIA ILLINOIS TO
65 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BLOOMINGTON INDIANA.
REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.
OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 302. WATCH NUMBER 302 WILL NOT BE IN
EFFECT AFTER 440 PM EDT. CONTINUE...WW 300...WW 301...WW 303...WW
304...WW 305...
DISCUSSION...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO SPREAD EWD ALONG
CONVERGENCE ALOFT. AIR MASS ABOVE THE BOUNDARY LAYER IS MODERATELY
UNSTABLE AND 50 KT DEEP LAYER SHEAR IS FAVORABLE FOR SUPERCELLS.
DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE THE MAIN THREAT...ESPECIALLY
CONSIDERING THE STORMS ARE SLIGHTLY ELEVATED. HOWEVER...THE BOUNDARY
LAYER DEPTH IS DECREASING AND MAY BE FAVORABLE FOR A FEW TORNADOES.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 27035.
...IMY
404,0874 382,0853 382,0892 404,0914SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 10:25 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alexander, Massac, Pulaski | 6 hr |
| May 8, 12:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Adams, Bond, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Christian and 42 more | 4 hr |
| May 8, 12:24 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Massac | 2 hr |
| May 8, 2:11 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Bond, Brown, Calhoun, Christian, Clay and 35 more | 2 hr |
| May 8, 2:20 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Massac | 85 min |
| May 8, 5:15 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Edwards, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Massac, Pope and 4 more | 6 hr |
| May 8, 3:51 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adair, Adams, Audubon, Cass, Clarke, Decatur and 13 more | 3 hr |
| May 8, 4:15 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Adams, Appanoose, Clarke, Davis, Decatur, Fremont and 7 more | 7 hr |
| May 8, 7:50 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Appanoose, Clarke, Davis, Decatur, Fremont and 7 more | 85 min |
| May 8, 7:55 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Appanoose, Clarke, Davis, Decatur, Fremont and 7 more | 95 min |
| May 8, 4:18 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adair, Adams, Audubon, Carroll, Cass, Crawford and 11 more | 57 min |
| May 8, 5:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Adair, Adams, Audubon, Carroll, Cass, Crawford and 13 more | 6 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Illinois, 2003Tornado Watches in Indiana, 2003Tornado Watches in Iowa, 2003Every tornado watch 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.