Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Watches in 2013

Tornado Watch 265

May 31, 201318 counties in Illinois

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 31, 2013, 7:23 PM CDT for 18 counties in Illinois. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 31, 2013, 7:23 PM CDT (00:23 UTC)
Expired
Jun 1, 2013, 1:37 AM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Champaign County, IL, Christian County, IL, Clark County, IL, Clay County, IL, Coles County, IL, Crawford County, IL, Cumberland County, IL, Douglas County, IL, Edgar County, IL, Effingham County, IL, Jasper County, IL, Lawrence County, IL, Macon County, IL, Moultrie County, IL, Piatt County, IL, Richland County, IL, Shelby County, IL, Vermilion County, IL

The radar

The Lincoln radar (KILX), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:25 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
40%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
60%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
10%
Ten or more severe hail reports
30%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
10%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
90%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 31, 8:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXChristian, Morgan, Sangamon45 min
May 31, 9:02 PM CDTTornado WarningILXChristian, Sangamon43 min
May 31, 9:16 PM CDTTornado WarningILXChristian, Macon, Shelby29 min
May 31, 9:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXShelby51 min
May 31, 9:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXChristian, DeWitt, Logan, Macon, Piatt, Sangamon43 min
May 31, 9:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXCumberland, Effingham, Jasper, Shelby65 min
May 31, 9:44 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningILXChristian, Logan, Macon, Sangamon9 hr
May 31, 9:44 PM CDTTornado WarningILXChristian, Macon, Moultrie, Piatt, Shelby31 min
May 31, 9:55 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMacon35 min
May 31, 10:11 PM CDTTornado WarningILXChampaign, DeWitt, McLean, Macon, Piatt34 min
May 31, 10:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXChampaign, Coles, Douglas, Moultrie, Piatt45 min
May 31, 10:18 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningILXDeWitt, Macon6 hr
May 31, 10:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXShelby26 min
May 31, 10:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXChampaign, McLean, Piatt, Vermilion57 min
May 31, 10:35 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningILXChampaign, DeWitt, McLean, Piatt6 hr
May 31, 10:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXClark, Crawford, Cumberland, Jasper48 min
May 31, 10:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXChampaign, Clark, Coles, Cumberland, Douglas, Edgar and 1 more53 min
May 31, 11:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXClark48 min
May 31, 11:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXClark, Edgar36 min
May 31, 11:48 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningILXClay, Effingham, Jasper15 hr
Jun 1, 12:39 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningILXClay, Crawford, Jasper, Lawrence, Richland14 hr
Jun 1, 12:49 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXCrawford, Jasper, Lawrence, Richland56 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, 0.4 hours before the alert went out and 64 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 2013-06-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2269 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 2013-06-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 228 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
2269 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
706 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
228 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
244 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
3.6
Supercell composite
15.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 31, 7:05 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBond, Calhoun, Christian, Greene, Jersey, Macon and 5 more85 min
May 31, 8:46 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBond, Clay, Clinton, Coles, Cumberland, Effingham and 16 more59 min
May 31, 9:37 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAlexander, Clinton, Edwards, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton and 19 more6 hr
May 31, 9:47 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCIroquois58 min
May 31, 10:11 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCFord, Iroquois5 hr
Jun 1, 1:13 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCrawford, Lawrence, Wabash2 hr
Jun 1, 1:51 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlexander, Edwards, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin and 14 more114 min
Jun 1, 3:46 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCMassac29 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Illinois, 2013Every tornado watch in 2013

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.