Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Lincoln, IL

May 18, 2004Tazewell County, Woodford County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this tornado warning at May 18, 2004, 5:35 PM CDT for Tazewell County, Woodford County, Illinois. It was in force for 25 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 18, 2004, 5:35 PM CDT (22:35 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 2004, 6:00 PM CDT
In force
25 min
Issued by
NWS Lincoln, IL
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Tazewell County, IL, Woodford County, IL

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 61 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:34 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 18, 12:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 91 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 12:00Z on 2004-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 989 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2004-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 124 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
989 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-53 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
838 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
124 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
85 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
2.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KILX 182235
TORILX
ILC179-203-182300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING...RETRANSMITTED FOR MEDIA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
508 PM CDT TUE MAY 18 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LINCOLN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WOODFORD COUNTY IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS
  TAZEWELL COUNTY IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS

* UNTIL 600 PM CDT

* AT 508 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG
  ROTATION OVER EAST PEORIA...OR ABOUT 6 MILES SOUTHEAST OF PEORIA...
  MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH. THIS STORM COULD PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY
  TIME. IN ADDITION TO THE THREAT OF A TORNADO...LARGE HAIL AND
  DAMAGING WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. GO TO A SAFE PLACE
  NOW

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  EAST PEORIA
  DEER CREEK
  EUREKA
  GOODFIELD
  ROANOKE
  SECOR

OTHER LOCATIONS IN THIS WARNING INCLUDE...MORTON...PEORIA...CREVE
COEUR...MARQUETTE HEIGHTS...PEKIN...WASHINGTON AND GROVELAND.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM...TAKE COVER IN A BASEMENT OR
INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. VEHICLES AND MOBILE HOMES SHOULD
BE ABANDONED FOR A SAFER SHELTER.

REPORT SEVERE WEATHER OR ANY STORM DAMAGE TO YOUR LOCAL ESDA...OR THE
NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY...FOR RELAY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE. STAY TUNED FOR LATER STATEMENTS.

LAT...LON 4073 8957 4054 8968 4066 8905 4085 8907

$$

KH

NNNN

The office that day

Everything else NWS Lincoln, IL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 12:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMorgan63 min
May 18, 1:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXChampaign, Piatt62 min
May 18, 1:58 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningILXDeWitt6 hr
May 18, 3:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMcLean49 min
May 18, 3:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMcLean47 min
May 18, 4:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXPeoria, Tazewell, Woodford62 min
May 18, 4:45 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningILXPeoria4 hr
May 18, 4:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXChristian, Shelby52 min
May 18, 5:08 PM CDTTornado WarningILXTazewell, Woodford52 min
May 18, 5:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMcLean65 min
May 18, 6:11 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMcLean64 min
May 18, 6:24 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningILXMcLean3 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 2004Every tornado warning in 2004Tornadoes in 2004

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.