Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Watches in 2004

Tornado Watch 440

June 11, 200416 counties in Illinois; 8 counties in Wisconsin

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jun 11, 2004, 6:20 PM CDT for 16 counties in Illinois; 8 counties in Wisconsin. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jun 11, 2004, 6:20 PM CDT (23:20 UTC)
Expired
Jun 11, 2004, 11:00 PM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 24 counties

Boone County, IL, Bureau County, IL, Carroll County, IL, DeKalb County, IL, Grundy County, IL, Jo Daviess County, IL, Kane County, IL, Kendall County, IL, LaSalle County, IL, Lee County, IL, McHenry County, IL, Ogle County, IL, Putnam County, IL, Stephenson County, IL, Whiteside County, IL, Winnebago County, IL, Dane County, WI, Grant County, WI, Green County, WI, Iowa County, WI, Jefferson County, WI, Lafayette County, WI, Rock County, WI, Walworth County, WI

The radar

The Milwaukee radar (KMKX), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:24 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 11, 6:51 PM CDTTornado WarningMKXGreen, Lafayette54 min
Jun 11, 7:16 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMKXGreen3 hr
Jun 11, 7:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTOgle, Winnebago40 min
Jun 11, 7:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTBoone, Winnebago65 min
Jun 11, 9:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTBoone31 min
Jun 11, 9:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTKendall, LaSalle43 min
Jun 11, 10:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTGrundy, Kendall23 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

Green Bay/Straub, WI (KGRB), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 251 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, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 2004-06-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Green Bay/Straub, WI at 12:00Z on 2004-06-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 82 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
534 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
82 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
101 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 112316
SEL0  
SPC WW 112320
ILZ000-WIZ000-120400-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 440
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
620 PM CDT FRI JUN 11 2004

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 

       NORTHERN ILLINOIS
       SOUTHERN WISCONSIN

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY EVENING FROM 620 PM UNTIL 1100 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 55 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 55 MILES NORTHWEST OF JANESVILLE WISCONSIN TO 20
MILES SOUTHWEST OF MARSEILLES 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 435...WW 437...WW 438...WW
439...

DISCUSSION...SUPERCELLS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG WNW/ESE ORIENTED
WARM FRONT DURING THE NEXT FEW HOURS...WHERE LOW LCLS AND SELY LOW
LEVEL FLOW WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR LOW LEVEL STORM ROTATION/POSSIBLE
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 550.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24030.


...CORFIDI

431,0884 410,0875 410,0900 431,0905

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 10, 7:58 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBureau, Carroll, Champaign, DeWitt, Douglas, Edgar and 27 more92 min
Jun 10, 9:50 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCCook, DuPage, Kankakee, Will5 hr
Jun 11, 5:56 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBoone, Bureau, Carroll, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy and 14 more94 min
Jun 11, 10:10 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBuffalo, Crawford, Grant, La Crosse, Pepin, Pierce and 3 more95 min
Jun 11, 5:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBarron, Buffalo, Dunn, Pepin, Pierce, Polk and 2 more6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Illinois, 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.