Alert archive / Illinois / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2021

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 422

August 11, 202112 counties in Illinois; 4 counties in Indiana

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Aug 11, 2021, 8:52 AM CDT for 12 counties in Illinois; 4 counties in Indiana. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 11, 2021, 8:52 AM CDT (13:52 UTC)
Expired
Aug 11, 2021, 12:48 PM CDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
65 kt

Counties Cook County, IL, DeKalb County, IL, DuPage County, IL, Grundy County, IL, Kane County, IL, Kankakee County, IL, Kendall County, IL, Lake County, IL, LaSalle County, IL, Lee County, IL, Ogle County, IL, Will County, IL, Jasper County, IN, Lake County, IN, Newton County, IN, Porter County, IN

The radar

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 13 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:54 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
20%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
5%
Ten or more severe wind reports
60%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
60%
Ten or more severe hail reports
40%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
90%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 11, 9:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threatLOTGrundy, Kane, Kendall40 min
Aug 11, 9:25 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threatLOTDuPage, Kane, Will65 min
Aug 11, 9:35 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTBoone, DeKalb, Ogle, Winnebago42 min
Aug 11, 9:40 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threatLOTCook, Will65 min
Aug 11, 9:46 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTKane, Lake, McHenry59 min
Aug 11, 9:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threatLOTGrundy, Kane, Kendall40 min
Aug 11, 10:12 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTLake, Porter63 min
Aug 11, 11:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTJasper, Lake, Newton, Porter45 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, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 162 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 2021-08-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1930 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 2021-08-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 228 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1930 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-174 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1253 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
228 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
185 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
4.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

646 
WWUS20 KWNS 111348
SEL2  
SPC WW 111348
ILZ000-INZ000-LMZ000-111800-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 422
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
850 AM CDT Wed Aug 11 2021

The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Watch for portions of 
  Northern Illinois
  Extreme northwestern Indiana
  Lake Michigan

* Effective this Wednesday morning and afternoon from 850 AM
  until 100 PM CDT.

* Primary threats include...
  Scattered damaging winds and isolated significant gusts to 75
    mph likely
  Scattered large hail and isolated very large hail events to 2
    inches in diameter possible
  A tornado or two possible

SUMMARY...An intensifying storm cluster in northwest Illinois has
shown signs of increasing organization this morning.  The downstream
environment favors maintenance of the storms, and the potential for
swaths of damaging winds with isolated significant gusts to 75 mph,
occasional large hail, and possibly a tornado or two with embedded
circulations.

The severe thunderstorm watch area is approximately along and 35
statute miles north and south of a line from 25 miles west northwest
of Marseilles IL to 5 miles east of Valparaiso IN. For a complete
depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update
(WOUS64 KWNS WOU2).

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.

&&

AVIATION...A few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to
2 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 65 knots. A
few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 550. Mean storm motion vector
27045.

...Thompson

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 10, 7:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCKankakee5 hr
Aug 11, 1:20 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBureau, Ford, Fulton, Grundy, Henry, Iroquois and 15 more115 min
Aug 11, 4:49 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams86 min
Aug 11, 6:26 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Brown, Cass, Fulton, Hancock, Henderson and 12 more2 hr
Aug 11, 8:34 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBureau, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Ford, Grundy and 13 more86 min
Aug 11, 9:52 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCook, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kankakee, Lake and 1 more83 min
Aug 11, 3:56 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCarroll, Hancock, Henderson, Henry, Jo Daviess, Mercer and 2 more3 hr
Aug 11, 5:40 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCarroll, Jo Daviess, Stephenson95 min
Aug 10, 7:12 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDeKalb, Elkhart, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Lake, LaPorte and 6 more63 min
Aug 10, 9:57 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, DeKalb, Elkhart, Fulton, Huntington, Jasper and 8 more93 min
Aug 11, 10:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdams, Allen, Blackford, Cass, DeKalb, Elkhart and 18 more4 hr
Aug 11, 12:26 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Allen, DeKalb, Elkhart, Huntington, Kosciusko and 7 more94 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Illinois, 2021Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Indiana, 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.