Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Warnings in 2011

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Lincoln, IL

April 15, 2011Sangamon County, Illinois

NWS Lincoln, IL issued this tornado warning at Apr 15, 2011, 5:17 PM CDT for Sangamon County, Illinois. It was in force for 43 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Apr 15, 2011, 5:17 PM CDT (22:17 UTC)
Expired
Apr 15, 2011, 6:00 PM CDT
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Lincoln, IL
Area
Storm-based polygon

County Sangamon County, IL

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 61 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:20 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 was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 15, 5:59 PM CDTHAIL 1.75Pawnee, IL
Apr 15, 6:06 PM CDTHAIL 1Chatham, IL

Local storm reports filed while the alert was in force, from inside its polygon or its counties.

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 15, 12:47 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC9 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 101 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 2011-04-15Temperature 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, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2011-04-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 109 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1776 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
109 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
129 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.

507 
WFUS53 KILX 152217
TORILX
ILC167-152300-
/O.NEW.KILX.TO.W.0005.110415T2217Z-110415T2300Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LINCOLN IL
517 PM CDT FRI APR 15 2011

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LINCOLN HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTH CENTRAL SANGAMON COUNTY IN CENTRAL ILLINOIS...

* UNTIL 600 PM CDT.

* AT 516 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE METEOROLOGISTS DETECTED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO. THIS DANGEROUS
  STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR WHITE OAK...OR 10 MILES EAST OF VIRDEN...AND
  MOVING NORTH AT 30 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
  DIVERNON...PAWNEE...CHATHAM AND GLENARM.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

TAKE COVER NOW. MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A
STURDY BUILDING. AVOID WINDOWS. IF IN A MOBILE HOME...A VEHICLE OR
OUTDOORS...MOVE TO THE CLOSEST SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER AND PROTECT
YOURSELF FROM FLYING DEBRIS.

&&

LAT...LON 3972 8949 3964 8951 3964 8954 3956 8953
      3952 8954 3952 8967 3971 8975
TIME...MOT...LOC 2217Z 177DEG 26KT 3952 8959

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 15, 9:36 AM CDTWind AdvisoryILXChampaign, DeWitt, Fulton, Knox, Logan, McLean and 8 more4 hr
Apr 15, 4:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXCass, Mason, Menard48 min
Apr 15, 4:51 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementILXMorgan39 min
Apr 15, 4:59 PM CDTTornado WarningILXSangamon46 min
Apr 15, 5:06 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMason, Menard39 min
Apr 15, 5:28 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMorgan, Sangamon47 min
Apr 15, 5:40 PM CDTTornado WarningILXFulton, Mason, Tazewell50 min
Apr 15, 5:42 PM CDTTornado WarningILXLogan, Menard, Sangamon48 min
Apr 15, 5:52 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMason, Menard17 min
Apr 15, 6:00 PM CDTTornado WarningILXSangamon45 min
Apr 15, 6:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXFulton, Knox, Peoria, Tazewell52 min
Apr 15, 6:27 PM CDTTornado WarningILXLogan, Mason, Menard, Sangamon48 min
Apr 15, 6:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXChristian, Macon, Moultrie, Shelby62 min
Apr 15, 6:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXLogan, Menard, Sangamon37 min
Apr 15, 6:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXColes, Cumberland, Effingham, Moultrie, Shelby55 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Illinois, 2011Every tornado warning in 2011Tornadoes in 2011

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; local storm reports from the same archive; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.