Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Watches in 2003
Tornado Watch 930
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Sep 26, 2003, 4:50 PM CDT for 24 counties in Illinois; 17 counties in Indiana. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Sep 26, 2003, 4:50 PM CDT (21:50 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 26, 2003, 10:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 41 counties
Bond County, IL, Champaign County, IL, Christian County, IL, Clark County, IL, Clay 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, Jasper County, IL, Logan County, IL, Macon County, IL, Madison County, IL, Menard County, IL, Montgomery County, IL, Moultrie County, IL, Piatt County, IL, Sangamon County, IL, Shelby County, IL, Vermilion County, IL, Boone County, IN, Clay County, IN, Clinton County, IN, Fountain County, IN, Greene County, IN, Hendricks County, IN, Lawrence County, IN, Monroe County, IN, Montgomery County, IN, Morgan County, IN, Owen County, IN, Parke County, IN, Putnam County, IN, Sullivan County, IN, Vermillion County, IN, Vigo County, IN, Warren County, IN
The radar
The Lincoln radar (KILX), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:53 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
1 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 26, 7:23 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | IND | Fountain, Tippecanoe | 2 hr |
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, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 54 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
- 2018 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 51 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 210 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 246 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 262148
SEL0
SPC WW 262150
ILZ000-INZ000-270300-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 930
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
450 PM CDT FRI SEP 26 2003
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
CENTRAL ILLINOIS
WEST CENTRAL INDIANA
EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 450 PM UNTIL 1000
PM CDT.
TORNADOES...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 55 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF SPRINGFIELD
ILLINOIS TO 35 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST 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...CONTINUE...WW 928...WW 929...
DISCUSSION...LINE OF SEVERE STORMS WILL CONTINUE TO TRACK EASTWARD
ACROSS CENTRAL IL INTO CENTRAL IND THIS EVENING. VERY STRONG LOW
LEVEL WIND FIELDS HAVE DEVELOPED IN THIS REGION...ALONG AND NORTH OF
RETREATING SURFACE WARM FRONT. ISOLATED SUPERCELLS HAVE INTENSIFIED
WITHIN SQUALL LINE...AND OTHER ROTATING STORMS MAY DEVELOP AHEAD OF
LINE IN REGION OF STRONG LOW LEVEL WARM ADVECTION. DAMAGING WINDS
AND HAIL ARE THE MAIN THREAT...BUT POTENTIAL FOR ISOLATED TORNADOES
ALSO EXISTS.
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 26035.
...HART
401,0895 402,0862 384,0862 383,0895
WWUS20 KWNS 262148
SEL0
SPC WW 262150
ILZ000-INZ000-270300-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 930
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
450 PM CDT FRI SEP 26 2003
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
CENTRAL ILLINOIS
WEST CENTRAL INDIANA
EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 450 PM UNTIL 1000
PM CDT.
TORNADOES...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 55 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF SPRINGFIELD
ILLINOIS TO 35 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST 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...CONTINUE...WW 928...WW 929...
DISCUSSION...LINE OF SEVERE STORMS WILL CONTINUE TO TRACK EASTWARD
ACROSS CENTRAL IL INTO CENTRAL IND THIS EVENING. VERY STRONG LOW
LEVEL WIND FIELDS HAVE DEVELOPED IN THIS REGION...ALONG AND NORTH OF
RETREATING SURFACE WARM FRONT. ISOLATED SUPERCELLS HAVE INTENSIFIED
WITHIN SQUALL LINE...AND OTHER ROTATING STORMS MAY DEVELOP AHEAD OF
LINE IN REGION OF STRONG LOW LEVEL WARM ADVECTION. DAMAGING WINDS
AND HAIL ARE THE MAIN THREAT...BUT POTENTIAL FOR ISOLATED TORNADOES
ALSO EXISTS.
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 26035.
...HART
401,0895 402,0862 384,0862 383,0895SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 26, 12:21 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Christian, DeWitt and 23 more | 114 min |
| Sep 26, 1:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Adams, Bond, Brown, Bureau, Calhoun, Cass and 26 more | 6 hr |
| Sep 26, 4:32 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Champaign, Christian, Clark, Clay, Coles, Crawford and 19 more | 88 min |
| Sep 26, 5:06 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Bond, Brown, Bureau, Calhoun, Cass and 26 more | 84 min |
| Sep 26, 6:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Alexander, Edwards, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin and 13 more | 7 hr |
| Sep 26, 6:59 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bond, Champaign, Christian, Clark, Clay, Coles and 17 more | 91 min |
| Sep 26, 5:45 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bartholomew, Blackford, Brown, Dearborn, Decatur, Delaware and 22 more | 2 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Illinois, 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.