Alert archive / Illinois / Tornado Watches in 2020

Tornado Watch 373

July 15, 202036 counties in Illinois; 29 counties in Missouri

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jul 15, 2020, 2:10 PM CDT for 36 counties in Illinois; 29 counties in Missouri. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 15, 2020, 2:10 PM CDT (19:10 UTC)
Expired
Jul 15, 2020, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 65 counties

Bond County, IL, Brown County, IL, Calhoun County, IL, Cass County, IL, Christian County, IL, Clinton County, IL, DeWitt County, IL, Effingham County, IL, Fayette County, IL, Fulton County, IL, Greene County, IL, Jersey County, IL, Logan County, IL, Macon County, IL, Macoupin County, IL, Madison County, IL, Marion County, IL, Mason County, IL, McLean County, IL, Menard County, IL, Monroe County, IL, Montgomery County, IL, Morgan County, IL, Moultrie County, IL, Peoria County, IL, Piatt County, IL, Pike County, IL, Randolph County, IL, Saint Clair County, IL, Sangamon County, IL, Schuyler County, IL, Scott County, IL, Shelby County, IL, Tazewell County, IL, Washington County, IL, Woodford County, IL, Audrain County, MO, Boone County, MO, Callaway County, MO, City of Saint Louis, MO, Cole County, MO, Crawford County, MO, Dent County, MO, Franklin County, MO, Gasconade County, MO, Iron County, MO, Jefferson County, MO, Lincoln County, MO, Madison County, MO, Maries County, MO, Miller County, MO, Moniteau County, MO, Montgomery County, MO, Osage County, MO, Phelps County, MO, Pike County, MO, Pulaski County, MO, Ralls County, MO, Reynolds County, MO, Saint Charles County, MO, Saint Francois County, MO, Saint Louis County, MO, Sainte Genevieve County, MO, Warren County, MO, Washington County, MO

The radar

The St Louis radar (KLSX), 42 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:09 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
70%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
10%
Ten or more severe hail reports
40%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
10%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
90%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 15, 2:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMcLean, Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford60 min
Jul 15, 2:30 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningILXPeoria, Tazewell3 hr
Jul 15, 2:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXFranklin, Gasconade, Warren43 min
Jul 15, 3:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXFranklin, Saint Charles, Warren39 min
Jul 15, 3:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMcLean, Woodford48 min
Jul 15, 3:15 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningILXTazewell, Woodford4 hr
Jul 15, 3:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXFranklin, Saint Charles, Saint Louis, City of Saint Louis39 min
Jul 15, 3:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMcLean35 min
Jul 15, 4:07 PM CDTTornado Warning Tornado observedILXMcLean8 min
Jul 15, 4:11 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningILXWoodford4 hr
Jul 15, 4:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXJefferson, Saint Louis34 min
Jul 15, 4:16 PM CDTTornado Warning Tornado observedILXMcLean29 min
Jul 15, 4:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMadison, Monroe, Saint Clair40 min
Jul 15, 4:38 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXMacoupin, Montgomery23 min
Jul 15, 4:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXBond, Clinton, Fayette, Macoupin, Montgomery42 min
Jul 15, 4:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXClinton, Monroe, Saint Clair, Washington47 min
Jul 15, 5:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXFayette, Macoupin, Montgomery43 min
Jul 15, 5:13 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXClinton, Monroe, Saint Clair, Washington25 min
Jul 15, 5:17 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningILXFulton, Mason, Peoria, Tazewell5 hr
Jul 15, 5:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXBond, Clinton, Fayette, Madison41 min
Jul 15, 5:26 PM CDTTornado Warning Tornado observedILXChristian, Sangamon28 min
Jul 15, 5:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXBond, Fayette, Montgomery45 min
Jul 15, 5:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXMonroe, Randolph40 min
Jul 15, 5:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXShelby50 min
Jul 15, 5:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXClinton, Saint Clair, Washington47 min
Jul 15, 5:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXBond, Clinton, Fayette44 min
Jul 15, 5:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXEffingham, Shelby37 min
Jul 15, 6:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXFayette, Marion44 min
Jul 15, 6:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLSXRandolph50 min
Jul 15, 6:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXColes, Cumberland, Douglas, Moultrie, Shelby43 min
Jul 15, 6:19 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningILXLogan, McLean, Tazewell, Woodford4 hr
Jul 15, 6:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMcLean50 min
Jul 15, 6:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXClay, Cumberland, Effingham, Shelby44 min
Jul 15, 6:36 PM CDTTornado WarningILXMcLean39 min
Jul 15, 6:52 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningILXMcLean, Peoria, Tazewell, Woodford7 hr
Jul 15, 7:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXClark, Clay, Crawford, Cumberland, Effingham, Jasper and 2 more56 min
Jul 15, 7:24 PM CDTTornado WarningLSXRandolph19 min
Jul 15, 7:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXMcLean14 min
Jul 15, 7:46 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningILXMcLean, Woodford5 hr

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, 7.2 hours before the alert went out and 232 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 2020-07-15Temperature 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 2020-07-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 30 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1529 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
30 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
32 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 15, 1:10 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBond, Calhoun, Cass, Christian, Clinton, Fayette and 17 more2 hr
Jul 15, 2:13 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrown, Fulton, Livingston, McDonough, McLean, Marshall and 5 more62 min
Jul 15, 3:14 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCFord, Grundy, Iroquois, Kankakee, Livingston6 hr
Jul 15, 5:35 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBond, Champaign, Christian, Clark, Clay, Clinton and 35 more85 min
Jul 15, 6:12 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCChampaign, Clark, Clay, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland and 20 more5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Illinois, 2020Tornado Watches in Missouri, 2020Every tornado watch in 2020

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.