Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Watches in 2017

Tornado Watch 42

February 28, 20174 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 28, 2017, 2:57 PM CST for 4 states. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Feb 28, 2017, 2:57 PM CST (20:57 UTC)
Expired
Feb 28, 2017, 10:00 PM CST
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
3 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 101 counties

Cedar County, IA, Clinton County, IA, Des Moines County, IA, Henry County, IA, Iowa County, IA, Jackson County, IA, Jefferson County, IA, Johnson County, IA, Jones County, IA, Keokuk County, IA, Lee County, IA, Linn County, IA, Louisa County, IA, Muscatine County, IA, Scott County, IA, Van Buren County, IA, Washington County, IA, Adams County, IL, Boone County, IL, Brown County, IL, Bureau County, IL, Carroll County, IL, Cass County, IL, Champaign County, IL, Christian County, IL, Clark County, IL, Clay County, IL, Coles County, IL, Cook County, IL, Crawford County, IL, Cumberland County, IL, DeKalb County, IL, DeWitt County, IL, Douglas County, IL, DuPage County, IL, Edgar County, IL, Effingham County, IL, Ford County, IL, Fulton County, IL, Grundy County, IL, Hancock County, IL, Henderson County, IL, Henry County, IL, Iroquois County, IL, Jasper County, IL, Jo Daviess County, IL, Kane County, IL, Kankakee County, IL, Kendall County, IL, Knox County, IL, Lake County, IL, LaSalle County, IL, Lawrence County, IL, Lee County, IL, Livingston County, IL, Logan County, IL, Macon County, IL, Marshall County, IL, Mason County, IL, McDonough County, IL, McHenry County, IL, McLean County, IL, Menard County, IL, Mercer County, IL, Morgan County, IL, Moultrie County, IL, Ogle County, IL, Peoria County, IL, Piatt County, IL, Pike County, IL, Putnam County, IL, Richland County, IL, Rock Island County, IL, Sangamon County, IL, Schuyler County, IL, Scott County, IL, Shelby County, IL, Stark County, IL, Stephenson County, IL, Tazewell County, IL, Vermilion County, IL, Warren County, IL, Whiteside County, IL, Will County, IL, Winnebago County, IL, Woodford County, IL, Benton County, IN, Jasper County, IN, Lake County, IN, Newton County, IN, Porter County, IN, Audrain County, MO, Clark County, MO, Knox County, MO, Lewis County, MO, Marion County, MO, Monroe County, MO, Pike County, MO, Ralls County, MO, Scotland County, MO, Shelby County, MO

The radar

The Quad Cities radar (KDVN), 69 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:00 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
50%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
50%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
10%
Ten or more severe hail reports
60%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
80%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 28, 3:04 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNHancock, Henderson, McDonough41 min
Feb 28, 3:26 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNIowa, Johnson, Keokuk, Washington36 min
Feb 28, 3:28 PM CSTTornado WarningDVNRock Island47 min
Feb 28, 3:35 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXStark25 min
Feb 28, 3:44 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNHancock, Henderson, McDonough, Warren46 min
Feb 28, 3:50 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXKnox26 min
Feb 28, 3:51 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNCedar, Johnson, Muscatine39 min
Feb 28, 3:54 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNBureau, Putnam51 min
Feb 28, 4:01 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNCedar, Clinton, Scott59 min
Feb 28, 4:02 PM CSTTornado Warning Tornado observedDVNWhiteside22 min
Feb 28, 4:10 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNBureau, Henry35 min
Feb 28, 4:11 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXKnox36 min
Feb 28, 4:14 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTLaSalle46 min
Feb 28, 4:23 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNCarroll, Whiteside67 min
Feb 28, 4:27 PM CSTTornado WarningLOTLaSalle48 min
Feb 28, 4:33 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMorgan, Scott29 min
Feb 28, 4:41 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTLee, Ogle34 min
Feb 28, 4:42 PM CSTTornado WarningDVNBureau, Putnam14 min
Feb 28, 4:44 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMarshall, Peoria, Stark51 min
Feb 28, 4:46 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNBureau, Putnam44 min
Feb 28, 4:46 PM CSTTornado WarningDVNWhiteside15 min
Feb 28, 4:47 PM CSTTornado WarningDVNPutnam8 min
Feb 28, 4:51 PM CSTTornado Warning Tornado observedConsiderable damage threatLOTGrundy, Kendall, LaSalle39 min
Feb 28, 5:05 PM CSTTornado WarningILXMarshall, Peoria, Woodford25 min
Feb 28, 5:13 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTLaSalle47 min
Feb 28, 5:15 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTDeKalb, Lee, Ogle45 min
Feb 28, 5:19 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNIowa, Keokuk, Washington26 min
Feb 28, 5:28 PM CSTTornado Warning Tornado observedILXMarshall, Woodford32 min
Feb 28, 5:28 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTGrundy, Kendall, Will47 min
Feb 28, 5:28 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNCedar, Johnson29 min
Feb 28, 5:32 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMarshall28 min
Feb 28, 5:36 PM CSTTornado WarningILXChristian24 min
Feb 28, 5:36 PM CSTTornado WarningLOTLaSalle, Livingston39 min
Feb 28, 5:44 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNJohnson31 min
Feb 28, 5:51 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTCook, DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry39 min
Feb 28, 6:00 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTCook, Grundy, Kendall, Will45 min
Feb 28, 6:01 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNBureau, Putnam29 min
Feb 28, 6:05 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNCedar, Johnson, Muscatine40 min
Feb 28, 6:13 PM CSTTornado WarningLOTGrundy, LaSalle, Livingston32 min
Feb 28, 6:24 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTLaSalle51 min
Feb 28, 6:27 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXShelby28 min
Feb 28, 6:31 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTLake, Porter59 min
Feb 28, 6:37 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNCedar, Clinton, Scott53 min
Feb 28, 6:44 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTKankakee, Will46 min
Feb 28, 6:44 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTCook, Will46 min
Feb 28, 6:54 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXColes, Douglas, Moultrie10 min
Feb 28, 7:04 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTGrundy, Kendall, Will41 min
Feb 28, 7:24 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNDes Moines, Henry, Lee, Louisa51 min
Feb 28, 7:31 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTPorter29 min
Feb 28, 7:38 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXClay, Jasper, Richland67 min
Feb 28, 7:41 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTLaSalle34 min
Feb 28, 7:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTCook, Kankakee, Will45 min
Feb 28, 7:57 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMarion, Monroe, Shelby48 min
Feb 28, 8:04 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTGrundy, LaSalle, Will26 min
Feb 28, 8:18 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNBureau, Henry28 min
Feb 28, 8:18 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNBureau27 min
Feb 28, 8:22 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNMercer, Rock Island23 min
Feb 28, 8:29 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXAdams, Pike33 min
Feb 28, 8:32 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNHenry, Mercer, Rock Island30 min
Feb 28, 8:34 PM CSTTornado WarningILXClay, Richland41 min
Feb 28, 8:35 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTDeKalb, Kendall, LaSalle, Lee40 min
Feb 28, 8:37 PM CSTTornado WarningLSXAdams, Pike27 min
Feb 28, 8:57 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTCook, Will37 min
Feb 28, 9:04 PM CSTTornado WarningILXCrawford, Lawrence, Richland41 min
Feb 28, 9:07 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXAdams, Brown, Pike38 min
Feb 28, 9:19 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDVNBureau, Putnam41 min
Feb 28, 9:20 PM CSTTornado WarningDVNBureau, Putnam40 min
Feb 28, 9:23 PM CSTTornado WarningLSXBrown, Pike22 min
Feb 28, 9:29 PM CSTTornado WarningILXCass, Schuyler23 min
Feb 28, 9:34 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTLaSalle56 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

Davenport, (KDVN), launched 12:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 68 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, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2017-02-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 30 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, Davenport, at 12:00Z on 2017-02-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 223 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
30 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-241 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
771 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
80 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
223 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
294 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

615 
WWUS20 KWNS 282055
SEL2  
SPC WW 282055
IAZ000-ILZ000-INZ000-MOZ000-LMZ000-010400-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
Tornado Watch Number 42
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
300 PM CST Tue Feb 28 2017

The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a

* Tornado Watch for portions of 
  Southeast Iowa
  Northern and Central Illinois
  Northwest Indiana
  Northeast Missouri
  Lake Michigan

* Effective this Tuesday afternoon and evening from 300 PM until
  1000 PM CST.

* Primary threats include...
  A few tornadoes possible
  Scattered large hail likely with isolated very large hail events
    to 3 inches in diameter possible
  Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible

SUMMARY...Scattered thunderstorms are expected to form this
afternoon and early evening across the watch area.  Conditions
appear favorable for large hail in the stronger cells, along with
the risk for isolated tornadoes.

The tornado watch area is approximately along and 120 statute miles
north and south of a line from 35 miles south of Ottumwa IA to 30
miles north of Lafayette IN. For a complete depiction of the watch
see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU2).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

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 41...

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 450. Mean
storm motion vector 25035.

...Hart

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 28, 1:46 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlexander, Franklin, Jackson, Jefferson, Johnson, Massac and 8 more2 hr
Feb 28, 2:03 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBureau, DeKalb, DuPage, Ford, Fulton, Grundy and 24 more2 hr
Feb 28, 2:19 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCAlexander, Bond, Calhoun, Clinton, Edwards, Fayette and 27 more7 hr
Feb 28, 5:24 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBoone, Bureau, Carroll, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage and 28 more96 min
Feb 28, 5:28 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlexander, Jackson, Johnson, Massac, Pope, Pulaski and 2 more2 hr
Feb 28, 3:40 PM CSTTornado WatchSPCDunklin, Pemiscot6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Illinois, 2017Tornado Watches in Iowa, 2017Tornado Watches in Missouri, 2017Every tornado watch in 2017

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.