Alert archive / Illinois / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2025

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 285, NWS Paducah, KY

May 20, 2025Ballard County, Carlisle County, McCracken County, Kentucky; 4 counties in Illinois; Mississippi County, Missouri

NWS Paducah, KY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 20, 2025, 3:01 PM CDT for Ballard County, Carlisle County, McCracken County, Kentucky; 4 counties in Illinois; Mississippi County, Missouri. It was in force for 44 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 20, 2025, 3:01 PM CDT (20:01 UTC)
Expired: May 20, 2025, 3:45 PM CDT
In force: 44 min
Issued by: NWS Paducah, KY
Area: Storm-based polygon
Hail: 1.0 in
Wind: 60.0 mph

Counties Alexander County, IL, Massac County, IL, Pope County, IL, Pulaski County, IL, Ballard County, KY, Carlisle County, KY, McCracken County, KY, Mississippi County, MO

The radar

The Paducah radar (KPAH), 17 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:03 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 20, 1:09 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	8 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 237 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1162 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -41 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 904 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 58 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 114 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 137 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.9
Supercell composite: 3.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 20, 12:43 PM CDT, 2 hours 18 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 20, 12:43 PM CDT, 2 hours 18 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, May 20, 3:05 AM CDT, 11 hours 56 minutes before

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In the hours before

Local storm report, May 20, 9:56 AM CDT, 5 hours 5 minutes before

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Local storm report, May 20, 10:09 AM CDT, 4 hours 52 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Paducah KY
1009 AM CDT Tue May 20 2025

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

1008 AM     Rain             3 W Newburgh            37.95N 87.45W
05/20/2025  M1.00 Inch       Vanderburgh        IN   Public

&&

BM

Local storm report, May 20, 2:20 PM CDT, 41 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Paducah KY
220 PM CDT Tue May 20 2025

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0214 PM     Hail             6 SE Ellsinore          36.87N 90.66W
05/20/2025  M0.50 Inch       Carter             MO   Emergency Mngr

&&

BM

Local storm report, May 20, 2:43 PM CDT, 18 minutes before

Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Paducah KY
243 PM CDT Tue May 20 2025

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0231 PM     Hail             Wappapello              36.94N 90.28W
05/20/2025  E0.75 Inch       Wayne              MO   Public

            Report from mPING: Dime (0.75 in.).

&&

BM

The office that day

Everything else NWS Paducah, KY issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 20, 1:38 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Ballard, Carlisle	39 min
May 20, 2:26 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Henderson	18 min
May 20, 3:07 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Carlisle, Graves, Hickman, McCracken, Marshall	30 min
May 20, 2:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	PAH	Ballard, Carlisle, Fulton, Hickman	51 min
May 20, 3:34 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Caldwell, Carlisle, Crittenden, Graves, Hopkins, Livingston and 4 more	41 min
May 20, 3:37 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	PAH	McCracken	50 min
May 20, 3:50 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Calloway, Graves, Hickman, Marshall	40 min
May 20, 3:57 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	PAH	Calloway, Graves, Marshall	12 min
May 20, 4:01 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	PAH	Caldwell, Crittenden, Livingston, Lyon	16 min
May 20, 4:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Calloway, Marshall, Trigg	42 min
May 20, 4:21 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	PAH	Calloway	13 min
May 20, 4:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threat	PAH	Christian, Todd, Trigg	48 min
May 20, 4:51 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Christian, Hopkins, Muhlenberg, Todd	39 min
May 20, 4:56 PM CDT	Areal Flood Advisory	PAH	Christian, Hopkins, Muhlenberg, Todd, Trigg	78 min
May 20, 5:14 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	PAH	Muhlenberg	2 hr
May 20, 5:15 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	PAH	Christian, Todd	30 min
May 20, 5:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Todd	26 min
May 20, 1:10 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Alexander, Jackson, Union	7 min
May 20, 1:19 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Alexander, Jackson, Johnson, Pulaski, Union, Williamson	41 min
May 20, 1:46 AM CDT	Tornado Warning Tornado observed	PAH	Johnson, Union	14 min
May 20, 1:54 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Johnson, Massac, Pope	32 min
May 20, 2:04 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Edwards, Wabash, White	41 min
May 20, 6:19 PM CDT	Special Weather Statement	PAH	Alexander	41 min
May 20, 6:51 PM CDT	Special Weather Statement	PAH	Pulaski	39 min
May 19, 10:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Carter, Ripley	52 min
May 20, 12:03 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Bollinger, Cape Girardeau, Perry	57 min
May 20, 12:48 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Cape Girardeau, Perry	42 min
May 20, 1:06 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	PAH	Cape Girardeau	12 min
May 20, 2:05 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Butler, Carter, Ripley, Wayne	40 min
May 20, 2:08 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Mississippi, New Madrid, Scott, Stoddard	52 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Illinois, 2025 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kentucky, 2025 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Missouri, 2025 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2025

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.