Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Watches in 2003
Tornado Watch 351
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 10, 2003, 9:35 PM CDT for 17 counties in Illinois; 8 counties in Iowa; 10 counties in Wisconsin. It was in force for 3 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 10, 2003, 9:35 PM CDT (02:35 UTC)
- Expired
- May 11, 2003, 1:00 AM CDT
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 35 counties
Cedar County, IA, Clinton County, IA, Des Moines County, IA, Dubuque County, IA, Jackson County, IA, Jones County, IA, Muscatine County, IA, Scott County, IA, Bureau County, IL, Carroll County, IL, Henderson County, IL, Henry County, IL, Jo Daviess County, IL, Knox County, IL, Lee County, IL, Marshall County, IL, Mercer County, IL, Ogle County, IL, Peoria County, IL, Rock Island County, IL, Stark County, IL, Stephenson County, IL, Tazewell County, IL, Warren County, IL, Whiteside County, IL, Columbia County, WI, Crawford County, WI, Dane County, WI, Grant County, WI, Green County, WI, Iowa County, WI, Lafayette County, WI, Richland County, WI, Sauk County, WI, Vernon County, WI
The radar
The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 25 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:36 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
7 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 10, 9:35 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MKX | Columbia, Dane | 55 min |
| May 10, 9:36 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LOT | Lee | 39 min |
| May 10, 9:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ARX | Richland | 53 min |
| May 10, 9:45 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ILX | Mason, Tazewell | 60 min |
| May 10, 10:09 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | ARX | Grant | 3 hr |
| May 10, 10:36 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | ARX | Richland | 2 hr |
| May 10, 10:43 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ILX | Marshall | 47 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
Davenport, (KDVN), launched 00:00Z, 2.6 hours before the alert went out and 21 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
- 1566 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -80 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 910 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 57 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 234 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 259 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 2.8
- Supercell composite
- 12.7
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 110232
SEL1
SPC WW 110235
IAZ000-ILZ000-WIZ000-110600-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 351
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
935 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2003
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
EASTERN IOWA
WESTERN ILLINOIS
SOUTHWEST WISCONSIN
EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING FROM 935 PM UNTIL
100 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 50 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 35 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF PEORIA ILLINOIS TO 40
MILES NORTH OF LONEROCK 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...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO
WATCH NUMBER 341...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 346. WATCH NUMBER 341 346
WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 935 PM CDT. CONTINUE...WW 341...WW
346...WW 347...WW 348...WW 349...WW 350...
DISCUSSION...INTENSE TORNADIC SUPERCELLS CONTINUE TO TRACK NEWD
AHEAD OF DEEPENING SURFACE LOW. CONDITIONS WILL REMAIN FAVORABLE
FOR POTENTIALLY STRONG TORNADOES NEXT SEVERAL HOURS
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 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24045.
...HALES
402,0911 434,0911 434,0891 402,0891SPC 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, 8:05 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Boone, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Ford, Grundy and 12 more | 6 hr |
| 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, 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 |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Illinois, 2003Tornado Watches in Wisconsin, 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.