Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Watches in 2003

Tornado Watch 350

May 10, 20034 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 10, 2003, 9:10 PM CDT for 4 states. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 10, 2003, 9:10 PM CDT (02:10 UTC)
Expired
May 11, 2003, 2:00 AM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 109 counties

Adams County, IL, Bond County, IL, Brown County, IL, Calhoun 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, Edwards County, IL, Effingham County, IL, Fayette County, IL, Fulton County, IL, Greene County, IL, Hancock County, IL, Jasper County, IL, Jefferson County, IL, Jersey County, IL, Lawrence County, IL, Logan County, IL, Macon County, IL, Macoupin County, IL, Madison County, IL, Marion County, IL, Mason County, IL, McDonough County, IL, McLean County, IL, Menard County, IL, Monroe County, IL, Montgomery County, IL, Morgan County, IL, Moultrie County, IL, Piatt County, IL, Pike County, IL, Richland County, IL, Saint Clair County, IL, Sangamon County, IL, Schuyler County, IL, Scott County, IL, Shelby County, IL, Vermilion County, IL, Wabash County, IL, Washington County, IL, Wayne County, IL, Bartholomew County, IN, Boone County, IN, Brown County, IN, Clark County, IN, Clay County, IN, Clinton County, IN, Crawford County, IN, Daviess County, IN, Decatur County, IN, Dubois County, IN, Floyd County, IN, Fountain County, IN, Gibson County, IN, Grant County, IN, Greene County, IN, Hamilton County, IN, Hancock County, IN, Hendricks County, IN, Howard County, IN, Jackson County, IN, Jefferson County, IN, Jennings County, IN, Johnson County, IN, Knox County, IN, Lawrence County, IN, Madison County, IN, Marion County, IN, Martin County, IN, Monroe County, IN, Montgomery County, IN, Morgan County, IN, Orange County, IN, Owen County, IN, Parke County, IN, Pike County, IN, Putnam County, IN, Rush County, IN, Scott County, IN, Shelby County, IN, Sullivan County, IN, Tippecanoe County, IN, Tipton County, IN, Vermillion County, IN, Vigo County, IN, Warren County, IN, Washington County, IN, Oldham County, KY, City of Saint Louis, MO, Franklin County, MO, Gasconade County, MO, Jefferson County, MO, Lincoln County, MO, Montgomery County, MO, Pike County, MO, Ralls County, MO, Saint Charles County, MO, Saint Louis County, MO, Warren County, MO

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 67 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:12 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

9 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 10, 9:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXSchuyler61 min
May 10, 9:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXSchuyler60 min
May 10, 9:45 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMason, Tazewell60 min
May 10, 9:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXFulton61 min
May 10, 10:35 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMcLean70 min
May 10, 10:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDPutnam39 min
May 10, 10:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDHendricks, Morgan39 min
May 10, 11:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDMarion44 min
May 10, 11:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDJackson, Jennings44 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, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 77 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 2003-05-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2426 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 2003-05-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 193 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 110203
SEL0  
SPC WW 110210
ILZ000-INZ000-MOZ000-110700-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 350 
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 
910 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2003

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 

       SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL ILLINOIS
       SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL INDIANA
       EASTERN MISSOURI

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING FROM 910 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 80 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 50 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF QUINCY ILLINOIS
TO 50 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF INDIANAPOLIS 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 TORNADO
WATCH NUMBER 344. WATCH NUMBER 344 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 910
PM CDT. CONTINUE...WW 341...WW 343...WW 344...WW 345...WW 346...WW
347...WW 348...WW 349...


DISCUSSION...STRONG SHEAR AHEAD OF DEEPENING LOW AND APPROACHING
UPPER TROUGH SUPPORTS CONTINUED THREAT OF TORNADIC SUPERCELLS
SPREADING EASTWARD ACROSS WRN OH VALLEY.

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 24045.


...HALES

402,0913 403,0852 381,0852 380,0913

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 10, 7:06 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlexander, Franklin, Hardin, Jackson, Johnson, Massac and 7 more54 min
May 10, 8:05 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBoone, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Ford, Grundy and 12 more6 hr
May 10, 8:18 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBureau, Carroll, Henderson, Henry, Jo Daviess, Knox and 8 more117 min
May 10, 8:41 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCrawford, Lawrence, Richland, Wabash2 hr
May 10, 8:45 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAlexander, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson and 10 more5 hr
May 10, 9:35 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBureau, Carroll, Henderson, Henry, Jo Daviess, Knox and 11 more3 hr
May 10, 10:56 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBoone, Bureau, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Ford and 19 more94 min
May 11, 1:46 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Bond, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Champaign and 42 more89 min
May 10, 10:40 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDeKalb, Elkhart, Kosciusko, LaGrange, LaPorte, Marshall and 5 more2 hr
May 10, 11:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAdams, Allen, Cass, DeKalb, Elkhart, Fulton and 15 more6 hr
May 10, 11:20 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCHarrison, Perry, Spencer6 hr
May 10, 11:28 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDearborn, Fayette, Franklin, Jay, Ohio, Randolph and 4 more2 hr
May 10, 8:28 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBreathitt, Floyd, Johnson, Knott, Magoffin, Martin and 1 more62 min
May 10, 10:04 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Barren, Breckinridge, Butler, Caldwell, Calloway and 23 more116 min
May 11, 4:16 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Anderson, Barren, Bath, Bell, Bourbon and 68 more59 min
May 11, 5:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBath, Bell, Bourbon, Boyle, Breathitt, Casey and 38 more4 hr
May 11, 5:55 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBell, Harlan5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Illinois, 2003Tornado Watches in Indiana, 2003Tornado Watches in Missouri, 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.