Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Watches in 2012

Tornado Watch 199

April 28, 20124 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 28, 2012, 5:15 PM CDT for 4 states. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 28, 2012, 5:15 PM CDT (22:15 UTC)
Expired
Apr 28, 2012, 10:00 PM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
3 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 40 counties

Clinton County, IL, Edwards County, IL, Franklin County, IL, Gallatin County, IL, Hamilton County, IL, Jackson County, IL, Jefferson County, IL, Marion County, IL, Monroe County, IL, Perry County, IL, Randolph County, IL, Saint Clair County, IL, Saline County, IL, Wabash County, IL, Washington County, IL, Wayne County, IL, White County, IL, Williamson County, IL, Crawford County, IN, Dubois County, IN, Gibson County, IN, Harrison County, IN, Orange County, IN, Perry County, IN, Pike County, IN, Posey County, IN, Spencer County, IN, Vanderburgh County, IN, Warrick County, IN, Breckinridge County, KY, Daviess County, KY, Hancock County, KY, Henderson County, KY, Meade County, KY, Union County, KY, Jefferson County, MO, Perry County, MO, Saint Francois County, MO, Sainte Genevieve County, MO, Washington County, MO

The radar

The Evansville,IN radar (KVWX), 111 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:18 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
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
Ten or more severe hail reports
80%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
50%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
95%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 28, 5:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKCrawford, Dubois, Orange38 min
Apr 28, 5:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXCrawford, Jefferson, Saint Francois, Washington48 min
Apr 28, 5:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXClinton, Saint Clair, Washington37 min
Apr 28, 5:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAHJefferson42 min
Apr 28, 5:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKClark, Crawford, Floyd, Harrison, Orange, Washington46 min
Apr 28, 6:01 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXMadison, Saint Clair29 min
Apr 28, 6:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKCrawford, Harrison37 min
Apr 28, 6:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMonroe34 min
Apr 28, 6:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXClinton, Washington33 min
Apr 28, 6:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMadison, Saint Clair48 min
Apr 28, 6:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXFayette, Marion25 min
Apr 28, 6:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKClark, Floyd, Harrison40 min
Apr 28, 6:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXClinton, Saint Clair, Washington52 min
Apr 28, 6:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXFayette, Marion32 min
Apr 28, 8:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMonroe48 min
Apr 28, 8:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMonroe36 min
Apr 28, 9:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMonroe, Randolph, Saint Clair33 min
Apr 28, 9:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXRandolph, Saint Clair, Washington33 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 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 226 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 2012-04-28Temperature 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°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 2012-04-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 681 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
1019 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
63 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
681 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
811 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

591 
WWUS20 KWNS 282219
SEL9
SPC WW 282219
ILZ000-INZ000-KYZ000-MOZ000-290300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 199
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
515 PM CDT SAT APR 28 2012

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

       SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
       SOUTHWEST INDIANA
       NORTHERN KENTUCKY
       EASTERN MISSOURI

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 515 PM UNTIL
1000 PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 30 STATUTE
MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES NORTHWEST OF
FARMINGTON MISSOURI TO 70 MILES EAST OF EVANSVILLE INDIANA.  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 197...WW 198...

DISCUSSION...SUPERCELLS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FORMING ALONG AND N OF
NEARLY STNRY W-E FRONT FROM E CNTRL MO INTO SRN IL.  50 KT WLY DEEP
SHEAR...PRESENCE OF WEAK SFC WAVE/SLIGHTLY ENHANCED LOW LVL FLOW
NEAR STL...AND RELATIVELY SMALL TEMP-DEW POINT SPREADS SUGGEST
POTENTIAL FOR LOW LVL MESOCYLONES/ISOLD TORNADOES AS STORMS INTERACT
WITH FRONT AND/OR MORE SLOWLY-MOVING OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES FROM
EXISTING STORMS.  OTHERWISE...VERY LARGE HAIL AND AREAS OF DMGG
OUTFLOW WINDS EXPECTED THROUGH MID EVE EWD INTO SW IND/N CNTRL KY.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
550. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 28030.


...CORFIDI

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 28, 1:17 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBond, Calhoun, Clay, Clinton, Crawford, Cumberland and 24 more88 min
Apr 28, 1:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBond, Calhoun, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Crawford and 20 more7 hr
Apr 28, 2:56 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBond, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Crawford, Cumberland and 13 more64 min
Apr 28, 5:59 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBond, Calhoun, Clark, Clay, Clinton, Crawford and 20 more2 hr
Apr 28, 6:12 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCFranklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Monroe, Perry, Randolph and 3 more2 hr
Apr 28, 3:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBartholomew, Brown, Clark, Clay, Crawford, Daviess and 20 more6 hr
Apr 27, 7:00 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAndrew, Buchanan, Caldwell, Cass, Clay, Clinton and 6 more30 min
Apr 27, 7:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBates, Buchanan, Cass, Clay, Clinton, Jackson and 1 more95 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Illinois, 2012Tornado Watches in Indiana, 2012Tornado Watches in Kentucky, 2012Every tornado watch 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.