Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Watches in 2007

Tornado Watch 719

October 18, 200735 counties in Illinois

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 18, 2007, 2:01 AM CDT for 35 counties in Illinois. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Oct 18, 2007, 2:01 AM CDT (07:01 UTC)
Expired
Oct 18, 2007, 7:22 AM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
0.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 35 counties

Cass 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, Fulton County, IL, Jasper County, IL, Knox County, IL, Lawrence County, IL, Logan County, IL, Macon County, IL, Marshall County, IL, Mason County, IL, McLean County, IL, Menard County, IL, Morgan County, IL, Moultrie County, IL, Peoria County, IL, Piatt County, IL, Richland County, IL, Sangamon County, IL, Schuyler County, IL, Scott County, IL, Shelby County, IL, Stark County, IL, Tazewell County, IL, Vermilion County, IL, Woodford County, IL

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 17 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:02 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.

What SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes
30%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
10%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
5%
Ten or more severe hail reports
10%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
5%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

8 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 18, 2:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMorgan, Sangamon44 min
Oct 18, 3:58 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXClay, Effingham, Jasper, Richland32 min
Oct 18, 4:08 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXColes, Cumberland, Shelby37 min
Oct 18, 4:20 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXCrawford, Jasper, Lawrence, Richland40 min
Oct 18, 4:34 AM CDTTornado WarningILXColes, Douglas26 min
Oct 18, 4:51 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXChampaign, Douglas, Edgar, Vermilion39 min
Oct 18, 4:53 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXClark, Edgar29 min
Oct 18, 5:28 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXVermilion32 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, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 80 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 00:00Z on 2007-10-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 579 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 2007-10-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 336 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
579 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-45 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
645 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
59 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
336 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
386 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.4
Supercell composite
7.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000
WWUS20 KWNS 180658
SEL9  
SPC WW 180658
ILZ000-181400-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 719
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
155 AM CDT THU OCT 18 2007

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

       CENTRAL ILLINOIS

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY MORNING FROM 155 AM UNTIL 900 AM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 0.5 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 55 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 35 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF
PEORIA ILLINOIS TO 30 MILES EAST OF SALEM ILLINOIS.  FOR A
COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU9).

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 715...WW 716...WW
717...WW 718...

DISCUSSION...BAND OF LOW-TOPPED STORMS OVER WRN IL EXPECTED TO
CONTINUE E INTO CNTRL IL LATER THIS MORNING AS EMBEDDED STORMS MOVE
MORE RAPIDLY NNE ALONG IT.  CONVECTIVE SYSTEM IS IN ENVIRONMENT OF
WEAK SFC-BASED INSTABILITY BUT VERY STRONG LOW AND DEEP LYR
SHEAR...AND IS BEING FORCED...IN PART...BY ASCENT ASSOCIATED WITH
ERN KS UPR TROUGH.  AS KS TROUGH ASSUMES MORE OF A NEGATIVE TILT AND
CONTINUES NNE OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS...FORCING MAY BE SUFFICIENT TO
MAINTAIN SQLN AND ASSOCIATED SVR WIND/ISOLATED TORNADO THREAT.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
400. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 21040.


...CORFIDI

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 17, 7:57 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Brown, Fulton, Hancock, Henderson, McDonough and 3 more63 min
Oct 17, 10:56 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Alexander, Bond, Brown, Calhoun, Cass and 34 more64 min
Oct 17, 11:40 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAlexander, Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Fayette, Greene and 13 more4 hr
Oct 18, 2:02 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBond, Calhoun, Christian, Clinton, Fayette, Greene and 14 more58 min
Oct 18, 2:27 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCEdwards, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Jefferson and 9 more4 hr
Oct 18, 4:08 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlexander, Champaign, Clark, Clay, Coles, Crawford and 34 more67 min
Oct 18, 4:37 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCFord, Iroquois, Kankakee3 hr
Oct 18, 11:36 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBoone, Carroll, Kane, McHenry, Ogle, Stephenson and 1 more2 hr
Oct 18, 1:31 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAlexander, Edwards, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin and 13 more9 hr
Oct 18, 1:44 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChampaign, Clark, Clay, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland and 23 more2 hr
Oct 18, 3:23 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBond, Champaign, Christian, Clark, Clay, Clinton and 28 more8 hr
Oct 18, 5:39 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlexander, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin, Johnson, Massac and 6 more66 min
Oct 18, 6:34 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChampaign, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Coles, Crawford and 16 more116 min
Oct 18, 10:26 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClark, Crawford, Floyd, Harrison, Perry, Spencer2 hr
Oct 18, 1:59 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Cass, DeKalb, Elkhart, Fulton, Huntington and 13 more61 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Illinois, 2007Every tornado watch in 2007

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.