Alert archive / Indiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 9, NWS Northern Indiana

May 6, 1986Allen County, Indiana

NWS Northern Indiana issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 6, 1986, 6:00 PM EST for Allen County, Indiana. It was in force for 30 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 6, 1986, 6:00 PM EST (23:00 UTC)
Expired
May 6, 1986, 6:30 PM EST
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Northern Indiana
Area
Whole counties

County Allen 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 6, 6:03 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 51Allen, IN
May 6, 6:20 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 0Allen, 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

Dayton/James M C, OH (KDAY), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 151 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, Dayton/James M C, OH at 12:00Z on 1986-05-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Dayton/James M C, OH at 12:00Z on 1986-05-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 212 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1560 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
212 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
200 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 KIND 062259
SVRFWA
INC003-062330-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WAYNE IN
ISSUED BY INDIANAPOLIS IN
600 PM EST TUE MAY 6 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 630 PM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES OF

NORTHEAST INDIANA...ALLEN. THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF FORT WAYNE.

AT 555 PM EST RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 10 MILES WEST OF FORT
WAYNE MOVING EAST 35 MILES AN HOUR.

60 MILE AN HOURS WERE REPORTED WITH THIS STORM.

REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.
TAKE COVER IF SEVERE WEATHER THREATENS.
STEIGERWALDT/SELL

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, 2:46 PM EST, 3 hours 14 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SOUTH BEND IN
245 PM EST TUE MAY 6 1986

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 8PM EST FOR MOST OF
NORTHERN INDIANA AND SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN....

AT 235 PM EST..A THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN..DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING..AND SMALL HAIL WAS LOCATED 20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF SOUTH BEND
NEAR NAPANEE INDIANA.  THIS THUNDERTORM WAS MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT
35 MPH AND WILL MOVE ACROSS SOUTHERN ELKHART AND NORTHERN KOSCUISKO
COUNTIES OF NORTH CENTRAL INDIANA BY 330 PM EST.

OTHER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS..SOME PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN..WERE
SCATTERED ACROSS NORTHERN INDIANA AND SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN FROM
CHICAGO ILLINOIS TO KALAMAZOO MICHIGAN AND ANGOLA INDIANA.

THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.
MOWERY
Special weather statement, May 6, 2:53 PM EST, 3 hours 7 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WAYNE IN
245 PM EST TUE MAY 06 1986

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EST FOR
A PORTION OF NORTHEAST INDIANA...

AT 243 PM EST THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING IN EXTREME NORTHERN
INDIANA. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS OCCURRING 20 MILES SOUTHWEST
OF LIGONIER IN NORTHEAST INDIANA.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH AND CONTAINED
STRONG GUSTY WINDS..HEAVY RAINS..AND SMALL HAIL.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WILL MOVE INTO LAGRANGE COUNTY BY 315 PM
EST.

SELL
Special weather statement, May 6, 4:31 PM EST, 1 hour 29 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SOUTH BEND IN
430 PM EST TUE MAY 6 1986

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM EST FOR MOST OF
NORTHERN INDIANA AND SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN...

AT 430 PM EST...THUNDERSTORMS WITH SMALL HAIL..DANGEROUS LIGHTNING..
AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS WERE OVER SOUTHERN ELKHART AND NORTHERN
KOSCIUSKO COUNTIES IN INDIANA..NEAR NAPANEE INDIANA.

ANOTHER THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED JUST SOUTH OF PLYMOUTH jINDIANA
AND NEAR WALKERTON INDIANA..15 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF SOUTH BEND.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AROUND 35 MPH.
MOWERY

The office that day

Everything else NWS Northern Indiana issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 6, 3:23 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXLaGrange, Noble37 min
May 6, 4:35 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXNoble25 min
May 6, 5:04 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXDeKalb26 min
May 6, 5:45 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXHuntington, Whitley30 min
May 6, 6:24 PM ESTTornado WarningIWXBlackford, Grant81 min
May 6, 6:45 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXJay60 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.