Alert archive / Illinois / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2021

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 391

July 24, 202123 counties in Illinois; 21 counties in Indiana; 5 counties in Michigan

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Jul 24, 2021, 3:32 PM CDT for 23 counties in Illinois; 21 counties in Indiana; 5 counties in Michigan. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 24, 2021, 3:32 PM CDT (20:32 UTC)
Expired
Jul 24, 2021, 10:00 PM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 49 counties

Bureau 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, Marshall County, IL, McHenry County, IL, McLean County, IL, Peoria County, IL, Putnam County, IL, Stark County, IL, Tazewell County, IL, Will County, IL, Woodford County, IL, Benton County, IN, Cass County, IN, Elkhart County, IN, Fulton County, IN, Jasper County, IN, Kosciusko County, IN, LaGrange County, IN, Lake County, IN, LaPorte County, IN, Marshall County, IN, Miami County, IN, Newton County, IN, Noble County, IN, Porter County, IN, Pulaski County, IN, Saint Joseph County, IN, Starke County, IN, Steuben County, IN, Wabash County, IN, White County, IN, Whitley County, IN, Berrien County, MI, Branch County, MI, Cass County, MI, Hillsdale County, MI, Saint Joseph County, MI

The radar

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 27 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:31 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
10%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
2%
Ten or more severe wind reports
40%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
Ten or more severe hail reports
20%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
10%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
60%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 24, 3:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTCook, DuPage51 min
Jul 24, 4:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTCook49 min
Jul 24, 5:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTCook59 min
Jul 24, 5:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTWill16 min
Jul 24, 5:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXLaPorte41 min
Jul 24, 6:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTPorter60 min
Jul 24, 6:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTKankakee, Will53 min
Jul 24, 6:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXElkhart, Saint Joseph43 min
Jul 24, 6:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXLaPorte, Marshall, Saint Joseph, Starke51 min
Jul 24, 6:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTKankakee39 min
Jul 24, 6:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXElkhart, Kosciusko, Marshall, Saint Joseph57 min
Jul 24, 6:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXElkhart, Kosciusko, Marshall, Saint Joseph56 min
Jul 24, 7:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTIroquois53 min
Jul 24, 8:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTIroquois65 min
Jul 24, 8:51 PM CDTTornado WarningLOTIroquois24 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, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 169 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 2021-07-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 553 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 12:00Z on 2021-07-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 47 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
553 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-31 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
964 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
47 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
65 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

084 
WWUS20 KWNS 242029
SEL1  
SPC WW 242029
ILZ000-INZ000-MIZ000-LMZ000-250300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 391
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
330 PM CDT Sat Jul 24 2021

The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Watch for portions of 
  Northern Illinois
  Northern Indiana
  Southwest Lower Michigan
  Lake Michigan

* Effective this Saturday afternoon and evening from 330 PM until
  1000 PM CDT.

* Primary threats include...
  Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible
  Isolated large hail events to 1.5 inches in diameter possible

SUMMARY...Thunderstorms are slowly intensifying along a line from
north of Chicago into northwest Illinois.  These storms will spread
southward through the afternoon, posing a risk of locally damaging
wind gusts and hail.

The severe thunderstorm watch area is approximately along and 45
statute miles north and south of a line from 50 miles west southwest
of Marseilles IL to 35 miles southeast of Kalamazoo MI. For a
complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline
update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU1).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

REMEMBER...A Severe Thunderstorm Watch means conditions are
favorable for 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. Severe thunderstorms can and occasionally do produce
tornadoes.

&&

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 390...

AVIATION...A few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to
1.5 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 60 knots. A
few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 500. Mean storm motion vector
30025.

...Hart

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 24, 3:00 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBoone, Bureau, Carroll, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage and 17 more2 hr
Jul 24, 5:21 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBureau, Cook, DuPage, Ford, Grundy, Iroquois and 12 more114 min
Jul 24, 1:21 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCElkhart, LaGrange, LaPorte, Marshall, Saint Joseph, Starke and 1 more114 min
Jul 24, 10:44 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlcona, Alpena, Arenac, Bay, Clare, Crawford and 16 more3 hr
Jul 24, 2:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAlcona, Allegan, Arenac, Barry, Bay, Calhoun and 40 more7 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Illinois, 2021Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Indiana, 2021Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Michigan, 2021Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2021

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.