Alert archive / Indiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 19, NWS Indianapolis, IN

May 6, 1986LaPorte County, Indiana

NWS Indianapolis, IN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 6, 1986, 3:49 PM CDT for LaPorte County, Indiana. It was in force for 31 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 6, 1986, 3:49 PM CDT (20:49 UTC)
Expired
May 6, 1986, 4:20 PM CDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Indianapolis, IN
Area
Whole counties

County LaPorte County, IN

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Peoria Regional, IL (KPIA), launched 12:00Z, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 259 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, Peoria Regional, IL at 12:00Z on 1986-05-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1430 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, Peoria Regional, IL at 12:00Z on 1986-05-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 4 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1430 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-92 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
814 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-76 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-5.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KSBN 062050
SVRSBN
INC091-062220-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SOUTH BEND IN
349 PM EST TUE MAY 6 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 520 PM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTY OF

NORTH CENTRAL INDIANA...NORTHERN LAPORTE

AT 340PM EST RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER MICHIGAN
CITY IN NORTHERN LAPORTE COUNTY INDIANA.

REPORT SEVE-RE WEATHER TO YOUR NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY AND ASK
THEM TO RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

SAVAGE

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.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 6, 11:20 AM CDT, 4 hours 29 minutes before
INDIANA WEATHER SUMMARY AND SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
520 PM EST TUE MAY 6 1986

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR NORTHERN INDIANA TIL
   800 PM EST...

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR TIPPECANOE
COUNTY UNTIL 525 PM EST. A SECOND WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR BOTH CASS AND
CARROLL COUNTIES UNTIL 545 PM.

A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING EAST ACROSS NORTHERN INDIANA
LATE THIS AFTERNOON.

AN AMATEUR RADIO OPERATOR REPORTED 70 MPH WINDS AT MONTICELLO ALONG WITH
PEA SIZE HAIL NEAR 436 PM EST. WINDS OF 50 MPH WERE REPORTED AT LOWELL
IN EXTREME NORTHWEST INDIANA AROUND 320 PM EST BY STATE POLICE.

RADAR AT 510 PM EST...SHOWED THAT A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
EXTENDED FROM NEAR CRAWFORDSVILLE..ACROSS LAFAYTETTE TO NORTH OF FORT
WAYNE.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.

THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE BEING PRODUCED BY A COLD FRONT OVER NORTHERN
ILLINOIS. THIS FRONT WILL MOVE INTO NORTHERN INDIANA LATE TONIGHT AND
BECOME STATIONARY ACROSS CENTRAL INDIANA ON WEDNESDAY.

MOST OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR NEAR AND JUST AHEAD OF THIS FRONT
TONIGHT.

TEMPERATURES AS OF 500 PM EST RANGED FROM 66 DEGREES AT SOUTH BEND TO 84
DEGREES AT EVANSVILLE.

HENDRICKSON/DECAIRE

The office that day

Everything else NWS Indianapolis, IN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 6, 4:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDMarshall31 min
May 6, 5:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDTippecanoe25 min
May 6, 5:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDCarroll, Cass32 min
May 6, 5:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDMiami27 min
May 6, 5:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDHoward25 min
May 6, 6:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDHamilton25 min
May 6, 6:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDBenton25 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Indiana, 1986Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1986

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.