Alert archive / Illinois / Red Flag Warnings in 2012
Red Flag Warning 2, NWS Chicago, IL
NWS Chicago, IL issued this red flag warning at Mar 20, 2012, 1:08 PM CDT for 18 counties in Illinois; 5 counties in Indiana. It was in force for 6 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 20, 2012, 1:08 PM CDT (18:08 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 20, 2012, 7:02 PM CDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Chicago, IL
All 23 counties
Boone County, IL, Cook County, IL, DeKalb County, IL, DuPage County, IL, Ford County, IL, Grundy County, IL, Iroquois County, IL, Kane County, IL, Kankakee County, IL, Kendall County, IL, Lake County, IL, LaSalle County, IL, Lee County, IL, Livingston County, IL, McHenry County, IL, Ogle County, IL, Will County, IL, Winnebago County, IL, Benton County, IN, Jasper County, IN, Lake County, IN, Newton County, IN, Porter County, IN
The radar
The Chicago radar (KLOT), 12 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:13 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.
The nearest sounding before it
Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 6.1 hours before the alert went out and 158 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
- 16 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -218 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1084 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 29 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 131 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 136 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
942 WWUS83 KLOT 201808 RFWLOT URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 108 PM CDT TUE MAR 20 2012 ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019>023-032-033-039-INZ001-002-010-011-019- 210100- /O.NEW.KLOT.FW.W.0002.120320T1808Z-120321T0100Z/ WINNEBAGO-BOONE-MCHENRY-LAKE IL-OGLE-LEE-DE KALB-KANE-DUPAGE-COOK- LA SALLE-KENDALL-GRUNDY-WILL-KANKAKEE-LIVINGSTON-IROQUOIS-FORD- LAKE IN-PORTER-NEWTON-JASPER-BENTON- 108 PM CDT TUE MAR 20 2012 /208 PM EDT TUE MAR 20 2012/ ...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM CDT /9 PM EDT/ THIS EVENING... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHICAGO HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG WARNING FOR LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY AND STRONG WINDS FOR ALL OF NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHERN ILLINOIS ALONG WITH NORTHWEST INDIANA WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM CDT /9 PM EDT/ THIS EVENING. * AFFECTED AREA...ALL OF NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ILLINOIS ALONG WITH NORTHWEST INDIANA. * WINDS...SOUTH 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 35 MPH. * TIMING...THROUGH EARLY THIS EVENING. * RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AS LOW AS 20 PERCENT. * IMPACTS...CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR RAPID GROWTH OF WILD FIRES. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW...OR WILL SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF STRONG WINDS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AND WARM TEMPERATURES WILL CREATE EXPLOSIVE FIRE GROWTH POTENTIAL. && $$ CMS
1 follow-up statement
330 WWUS83 KLOT 210002 RFWLOT URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 702 PM CDT TUE MAR 20 2012 ...WINDS DIMINISHING AND HUMIDITY SLOWLY INCREASING... ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019>023-032-033-039-INZ001-002-010-011-019- 210115- /O.CAN.KLOT.FW.W.0002.000000T0000Z-120321T0100Z/ WINNEBAGO-BOONE-MCHENRY-LAKE IL-OGLE-LEE-DE KALB-KANE-DUPAGE-COOK- LA SALLE-KENDALL-GRUNDY-WILL-KANKAKEE-LIVINGSTON-IROQUOIS-FORD- LAKE IN-PORTER-NEWTON-JASPER-BENTON- 702 PM CDT TUE MAR 20 2012 /802 PM EDT TUE MAR 20 2012/ ...RED FLAG WARNING IS CANCELLED FOR LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY AND STRONG WINDS FOR NORTHERN ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST INDIANA... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHICAGO HAS CANCELLED THE RED FLAG WARNING. SOUTHERLY WIND SPEEDS HAVE DIMINISHED AND SHOULD CONTINUE SUCH A TREND THROUGH THE EVENING...WHILE HUMIDITY WILL GRADUALLY RISE. THUS RED FLAG CONDITIONS ARE NO LONG PRESENT...AND THE RED FLAG WARNING HAS BEEN CANCELLED. GUSTY SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL AGAIN BE PRESENT BY MID MORNING ON WEDNESDAY AND PERSIST THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. WHILE HUMIDITY VALUES ARE EXPECTED TO BE SLIGHTLY HIGHER...MAINLY BETWEEN 30 AND 40 PERCENT...CONDITIONS FOR BURNING STILL MAY BE CHALLENGING. $$
The office that day
Everything else NWS Chicago, IL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 20, 3:50 AM CDT | Small Craft Advisory | LOT | 18 hr |
Nearby
Red Flag Warnings in Illinois, 2012Red Flag Warnings in Indiana, 2012Every red flag warning in 2012
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.