Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Indianapolis, IN

May 15, 1986Posey County, Vanderburgh County, Indiana

NWS Indianapolis, IN issued this tornado warning at May 15, 1986, 4:29 PM CDT for Posey County, Vanderburgh County, Indiana. It was in force for 46 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 15, 1986, 4:29 PM CDT (21:29 UTC)
Expired: May 15, 1986, 5:15 PM CDT
In force: 46 min
Issued by: NWS Indianapolis, IN
Area: Whole counties

Counties Posey County, IN, Vanderburgh County, IN

The radar

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

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 15, 4:45 PM CDT	Tornado F2	Vanderburgh, IN
May 15, 4:55 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 0	Vanderburgh, IN

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Salem-Leckrone, IL (KSLO), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 124 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: 10 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -77 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 593 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 303 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 342 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KEVV 152129
TOREVV
INC129-163-152215-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EVANSVILLE IN
429 PM CDT THU MAY 15 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 515 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

SOUTHWEST INDIANA...POSEY AND VANDERBURGH

A REPORT WAS RECIEVED OF A TORNADO TOUCHING DOWN 4 MILES SOUTH
OF MT VERNON INDIANA..IT WAS MOVINGZ TO THE NORTHEAST AT ABOUT
45 MPH.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY!

WILLIAMS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 14, 7:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Gibson, Knox	45 min
May 15, 2:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Vanderburgh	30 min
May 15, 3:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Lawrence	41 min
May 15, 4:16 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	IND	Gibson, Pike	44 min
May 15, 4:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Madison	29 min
May 15, 5:05 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Randolph, Wayne	25 min
May 15, 5:23 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Union	22 min
May 15, 5:40 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	IND	Vanderburgh, Warrick	35 min
May 15, 6:15 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	IND	Dubois	45 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Indiana, 1986 Every tornado warning in 1986 Tornadoes 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.