Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Watches in 2004
Tornado Watch 262
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 23, 2004, 2:05 PM CDT for 24 counties in Illinois; 20 counties in Iowa; 14 counties in Wisconsin. It was in force for 8 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 23, 2004, 2:05 PM CDT (19:05 UTC)
- Expired
- May 23, 2004, 10:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 8 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 58 counties
Allamakee County, IA, Benton County, IA, Buchanan County, IA, Cedar County, IA, Clayton County, IA, Clinton County, IA, Delaware County, IA, Dubuque County, IA, Fayette County, IA, Iowa County, IA, Jackson County, IA, Johnson County, IA, Jones County, IA, Keokuk County, IA, Linn County, IA, Louisa County, IA, Muscatine County, IA, Scott County, IA, Washington County, IA, Winneshiek County, IA, Boone County, IL, Bureau County, IL, Carroll County, IL, DeKalb County, IL, DuPage County, IL, Grundy County, IL, Henry County, IL, Jo Daviess County, IL, Kane County, IL, Kankakee County, IL, Kendall County, IL, Lake County, IL, LaSalle County, IL, Lee County, IL, McHenry County, IL, Mercer County, IL, Ogle County, IL, Putnam County, IL, Rock Island County, IL, Stark County, IL, Stephenson County, IL, Whiteside County, IL, Will County, IL, Winnebago County, IL, Crawford County, WI, Dane County, WI, Grant County, WI, Green County, WI, Iowa County, WI, Jefferson County, WI, Kenosha County, WI, Lafayette County, WI, Milwaukee County, WI, Racine County, WI, Richland County, WI, Rock County, WI, Walworth County, WI, Waukesha County, WI
Warnings issued inside it
15 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 23, 6:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MKX | Dane | 51 min |
| May 23, 6:43 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LOT | LaSalle | 32 min |
| May 23, 6:55 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LOT | Kendall | 50 min |
| May 23, 6:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MKX | Dane, Jefferson | 48 min |
| May 23, 7:03 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MKX | Dane, Jefferson | 57 min |
| May 23, 7:14 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LOT | LaSalle | 31 min |
| May 23, 7:33 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LOT | Grundy | 42 min |
| May 23, 7:40 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LOT | Kendall, Will | 50 min |
| May 23, 7:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LOT | Lake | 29 min |
| May 23, 7:48 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LOT | DuPage | 42 min |
| May 23, 7:49 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MKX | Jefferson, Waukesha | 41 min |
| May 23, 7:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LOT | Will | 50 min |
| May 23, 8:01 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LOT | Lake | 29 min |
| May 23, 8:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LOT | Grundy | 30 min |
| May 23, 8:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MKX | Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Washington, Waukesha | 49 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 12:00Z, 7.1 hours before the alert went out and 252 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
- 435 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -95 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 621 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 33 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 18 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 59 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 231906
SEL2
SPC WW 231905
IAZ000-ILZ000-WIZ000-240300-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 262
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
205 PM CDT SUN MAY 23 2004
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
EASTERN IOWA
NORTHERN ILLINOIS
SOUTHERN WISCONSIN
EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 205 PM UNTIL 1000
PM CDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 115 STATUTE MILES EAST AND
WEST OF A LINE FROM 25 MILES NORTHWEST OF MADISON WISCONSIN TO 35
MILES SOUTHEAST OF MOLINE ILLINOIS.
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 259...WW 260...WW 261...
DISCUSSION...STRONG HEATING IS OCCURRING AHEAD OF SURFACE LOW/COLD
FRONT OVER EASTERN IA. THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED IN THIS
REGION DURING THE NEXT 1-2 HOURS...WITH STORMS SPREADING EASTWARD
ACROSS NORTHERN IL/SOUTHERN WI THROUGH THE EVENING. VERTICAL SHEAR
PROFILES ARE FAVORABLE FOR SUPERCELLS CAPABLE OF LARGE HAIL AND
TORNADOES. EVOLUTION INTO BOW ECHOES IS ALSO POSSIBLE BY EVENING.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.
...HART
432,0872 410,0874 410,0921 432,0915SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 22, 8:58 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Boone, Bureau, Carroll, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy and 23 more | 92 min |
| May 23, 12:24 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Boone, Bureau, Carroll, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage and 32 more | 66 min |
| May 23, 12:40 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Boone, Bureau, Carroll, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage and 27 more | 5 hr |
| May 23, 1:21 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Greene, Jersey and 6 more | 24 min |
| May 23, 1:40 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Adams, Brown, Cass, Fulton, Hancock, Logan and 8 more | 4 hr |
| May 23, 4:30 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Boone, Brown, Bureau, Carroll, Cass and 44 more | 60 min |
| May 23, 10:45 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Clark, Clay, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Edgar and 19 more | 5 hr |
| May 23, 12:25 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Brown, Bureau, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass and 31 more | 95 min |
| May 23, 12:45 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clark, Clay, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Edgar and 18 more | 2 hr |
| May 23, 1:15 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adams, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Fulton, Greene and 16 more | 6 hr |
| May 23, 2:53 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Iroquois, Vermilion | 67 min |
| May 23, 3:50 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Cook, DuPage, Iroquois, Kankakee, Vermilion, Will | 6 hr |
| May 23, 4:35 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Monroe | 5 hr |
| May 23, 5:00 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Bond, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Christian and 28 more | 2 hr |
| May 23, 5:10 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Boone, Bureau, Carroll, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy and 17 more | 95 min |
| May 23, 5:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bond, Calhoun, Christian, Clark, Clay, Clinton and 29 more | 6 hr |
| May 23, 6:30 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cook, DuPage, Iroquois, Kankakee, Vermilion, Will | 2 hr |
| May 22, 7:11 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adair, Adams, Audubon, Cass, Clarke, Dallas and 15 more | 94 min |
| May 22, 7:23 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adair, Adams, Audubon, Cass, Dallas, Fremont and 9 more | 67 min |
| May 22, 10:40 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adair, Adams, Appanoose, Benton, Cedar, Clarke and 33 more | 5 hr |
| May 22, 11:33 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adair, Adams, Appanoose, Benton, Cedar, Clarke and 33 more | 87 min |
| May 23, 2:21 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Appanoose, Buchanan, Cedar, Davis, Delaware, Des Moines and 14 more | 54 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Illinois, 2004Tornado Watches in Iowa, 2004Tornado Watches in Wisconsin, 2004Every tornado watch 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.