Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Watches in 2003
Tornado Watch 348
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 10, 2003, 8:05 PM CDT for 18 counties in Illinois; 5 counties in Indiana; 11 counties in Wisconsin. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 10, 2003, 8:05 PM CDT (01:05 UTC)
- Expired
- May 11, 2003, 2:00 AM CDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 34 counties
Boone County, IL, Cook County, IL, DeKalb County, IL, DuPage County, IL, Ford County, IL, Grundy County, IL, Iroquois County, IL, Kane County, IL, Kankakee County, IL, Kendall County, IL, Lake County, IL, LaSalle County, IL, Livingston County, IL, McHenry County, IL, McLean County, IL, Will County, IL, Winnebago County, IL, Woodford County, IL, Benton County, IN, Jasper County, IN, Lake County, IN, Newton County, IN, Porter County, IN, Dodge County, WI, Jefferson County, WI, Kenosha County, WI, Milwaukee County, WI, Ozaukee County, WI, Racine County, WI, Rock County, WI, Sheboygan County, WI, Walworth County, WI, Washington County, WI, Waukesha County, WI
The radar
The Chicago radar (KLOT), 24 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:07 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
18 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 10, 9:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LOT | Grundy, Will | 44 min |
| May 10, 9:12 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MKX | Dodge, Jefferson | 48 min |
| May 10, 9:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MKX | Dodge, Jefferson | 37 min |
| May 10, 9:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LOT | DeKalb, LaSalle | 48 min |
| May 10, 9:57 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LOT | DeKalb, LaSalle | 63 min |
| May 10, 10:06 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ILX | Woodford | 54 min |
| May 10, 10:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MKX | Dodge | 60 min |
| May 10, 10:23 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LOT | Kane | 52 min |
| May 10, 10:35 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ILX | McLean | 70 min |
| May 10, 10:37 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LOT | Livingston | 53 min |
| May 10, 10:39 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MKX | Dodge | 66 min |
| May 10, 10:41 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LOT | Cook, DuPage, Will | 49 min |
| May 10, 10:57 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LOT | Cook, DuPage | 48 min |
| May 10, 11:00 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LOT | Cook, DuPage | 45 min |
| May 10, 11:03 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ILX | Woodford | 42 min |
| May 10, 11:04 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MKX | Dodge, Fond du Lac, Washington | 56 min |
| May 10, 11:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LOT | Lake | 42 min |
| May 10, 11:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LOT | DeKalb, Kane | 48 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 00:00Z, 1.1 hours before the alert went out and 181 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
- 2426 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -41 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 784 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 58 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 193 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 257 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 3.2
- Supercell composite
- 17.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 110102
SEL8
SPC WW 110105
ILZ000-INZ000-WIZ000-LMZ000-110700-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 348
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
805 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2003
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
NORTHEASTERN ILLINOIS
NORTHWEST INDIANA
SOUTHEAST WISCONSIN
LAKE MICHIGAN
EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING FROM 805 PM UNTIL
200 AM CDT.
...THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION...
DESTRUCTIVE TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...
THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE
POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 60 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 70 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF MARSEILLES ILLINOIS TO
55 MILES NORTH OF MILWAUKEE WISCONSIN.
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...CONTINUE...WW 341...WW 342...WW 343...WW
344...WW 345...WW 346...WW 347...
DISCUSSION...INTENSE TORNADIC SUPERCELLS WRN IL WILL MOVE RAPIDLY
NEWD AHEAD OF DEEPENING LOW. STRONG DEEP LAYER SHEAR AND VERY
UNSTABLE AIRMASS WILL CONTINUE TO SUPPORT POTENTIAL FOR LONG LIVED
TORNADIC SUPERCELLS ACROSS THE WATCH AREA.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24040.
...HALES
402,0891 434,0890 434,0864 402,0870SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 10, 7:06 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alexander, Franklin, Hardin, Jackson, Johnson, Massac and 7 more | 54 min |
| May 10, 8:18 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bureau, Carroll, Henderson, Henry, Jo Daviess, Knox and 8 more | 117 min |
| May 10, 8:41 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Crawford, Lawrence, Richland, Wabash | 2 hr |
| May 10, 8:45 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alexander, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson and 10 more | 5 hr |
| May 10, 9:10 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adams, Bond, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Champaign and 45 more | 5 hr |
| May 10, 9:35 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bureau, Carroll, Henderson, Henry, Jo Daviess, Knox and 11 more | 3 hr |
| May 10, 10:56 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Boone, Bureau, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Ford and 19 more | 94 min |
| May 11, 1:46 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Bond, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Champaign and 42 more | 89 min |
| May 10, 10:40 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | DeKalb, Elkhart, Kosciusko, LaGrange, LaPorte, Marshall and 5 more | 2 hr |
| May 10, 11:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adams, Allen, Cass, DeKalb, Elkhart, Fulton and 15 more | 6 hr |
| May 10, 11:20 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Harrison, Perry, Spencer | 6 hr |
| May 10, 11:28 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Dearborn, Fayette, Franklin, Jay, Ohio, Randolph and 4 more | 2 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Illinois, 2003Tornado Watches in Wisconsin, 2003Tornado Watches in Indiana, 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.