Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Watches in 2004
Tornado Watch 305
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 26, 2004, 8:55 PM CDT for 4 states. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 26, 2004, 8:55 PM CDT (01:55 UTC)
- Expired
- May 27, 2004, 2:00 AM CDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 50 counties
Edwards County, IL, Franklin County, IL, Gallatin County, IL, Hamilton County, IL, Hardin County, IL, Jackson County, IL, Jefferson County, IL, Johnson County, IL, Massac County, IL, Monroe County, IL, Perry County, IL, Pope County, IL, Pulaski County, IL, Randolph County, IL, Saint Clair County, IL, Saline County, IL, Union County, IL, Wabash County, IL, Washington County, IL, Wayne County, IL, White County, IL, Williamson County, IL, Gibson County, IN, Pike County, IN, Posey County, IN, Vanderburgh County, IN, Warrick County, IN, Crittenden County, KY, Daviess County, KY, Henderson County, KY, Hopkins County, KY, Livingston County, KY, McLean County, KY, Muhlenberg County, KY, Union County, KY, Webster County, KY, Bollinger County, MO, Cape Girardeau County, MO, Crawford County, MO, Dent County, MO, Franklin County, MO, Gasconade County, MO, Iron County, MO, Jefferson County, MO, Madison County, MO, Perry County, MO, Reynolds County, MO, Saint Francois County, MO, Sainte Genevieve County, MO, Washington County, MO
The radar
The St Louis radar (KLSX), 111 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:56 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
5 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 26, 9:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PAH | Edwards, White | 55 min |
| May 26, 9:35 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PAH | Posey | 40 min |
| May 26, 9:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PAH | Vanderburgh | 41 min |
| May 26, 10:04 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PAH | Warrick | 41 min |
| May 26, 10:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PAH | Daviess, Henderson | 65 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, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 258 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
- 1412 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 69 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -75 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 67 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 270155
SEL5
SPC WW 270155
ILZ000-INZ000-KYZ000-MOZ000-270700-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 305
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
855 PM CDT WED MAY 26 2004
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
SOUTHWEST INDIANA
WESTERN KENTUCKY
EAST CENTRAL MISSOURI
EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING FROM 855 PM
UNTIL 200 AM 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 45 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 120 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF CAPE GIRARDEAU
MISSOURI TO 10 MILES NORTHEAST OF OWENSBORO KENTUCKY.
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 294...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 296. WATCH
NUMBER 294 296 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 855 PM CDT.
CONTINUE...WW 297...WW 298...WW 299...WW 300...WW 301...WW
302...WW 303...WW 304...
DISCUSSION...CLUSTER OF STRONG/SEVERE STORMS OVER SOUTHERN IL WILL
CONTINUE TO TRACK SOUTHEASTWARD FOR ANOTHER FEW HOURS INTO SOUTHWEST
IND AND WESTERN KY. OTHER STORMS ARE INCREASING ALONG THE KS/MO
BORDER AND MAY SPREAD INTO WATCH AREA LATER TONIGHT. STRONG LOW
LEVEL WARM ADVECTION NEAR SURFACE WARM FRONT...COUPLED WITH MODERATE
INSTABILITY...WILL PROMOTE SUPERCELL STORMS CAPABLE OF LARGE HAIL
AND ISOLATED TORNADOES.
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 28035.
...HART
383,0913 382,0870 370,0870 371,0913SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 26, 7:57 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alexander, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jackson and 13 more | 63 min |
| May 26, 9:36 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Bond, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Christian and 25 more | 54 min |
| May 26, 11:14 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alexander, Edwards, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin and 17 more | 2 hr |
| May 27, 1:53 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Christian, Clark, Clay, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland and 9 more | 3 hr |
| May 27, 11:10 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Christian, DeWitt and 25 more | 2 hr |
| May 27, 11:55 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Adams, Brown, Hancock, Henderson, McDonough, Pike and 3 more | 6 hr |
| May 27, 1:07 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Champaign, Clark, Coles, DeWitt, Douglas, Edgar and 12 more | 113 min |
| May 27, 1:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Cass, Champaign, Christian, Coles, DeWitt, Douglas and 22 more | 7 hr |
| May 27, 1:52 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Calhoun, Greene, Jersey, Macoupin, Pike and 1 more | 113 min |
| May 27, 2:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Fayette, Franklin, Greene and 12 more | 7 hr |
| May 27, 3:12 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Champaign, Christian, Clark, Coles, Cumberland, DeWitt and 13 more | 2 hr |
| May 27, 3:37 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bond, Calhoun, Clay, Clinton, Edwards, Effingham and 22 more | 113 min |
| May 27, 4:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Clark, Clay, Crawford, Cumberland, Edwards, Effingham and 7 more | 4 hr |
| May 27, 5:01 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Fayette, Greene, Jackson and 11 more | 89 min |
| May 27, 6:00 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Champaign, DeWitt, Douglas, Edgar, Macon, Morgan and 4 more | 90 min |
| May 27, 6:35 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Ohio, Switzerland | 25 min |
| May 27, 6:55 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Jefferson, Ohio, Switzerland | 5 hr |
| May 27, 6:22 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Anderson, Bath, Bourbon, Carroll, Clark, Fayette and 16 more | 53 min |
| May 26, 8:29 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | McDonald | 91 min |
| May 26, 8:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Barton, Bates, Benton, Camden, Cedar, Dade and 15 more | 6 hr |
| May 26, 11:40 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Cass, Clay, Cooper, Henry, Howard, Jackson and 6 more | 5 hr |
| May 27, 1:16 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Carroll, Cass, Clay, Cooper, Howard, Jackson and 6 more | 119 min |
| May 27, 1:50 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Barton, Camden, Cedar, Christian, Dade, Dallas and 15 more | 4 hr |
| May 27, 3:27 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cedar, Christian, Dade, Dallas, Douglas, Greene and 12 more | 2 hr |
| May 27, 3:55 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Andrew, Atchison, Buchanan, Caldwell, Carroll, Cass and 14 more | 95 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Illinois, 2004Tornado Watches in Missouri, 2004Tornado Watches in Kentucky, 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.