Alert archive / Indiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 14, NWS Indianapolis, IN

May 21, 1987Henry County, Randolph County, Wayne County, Indiana

NWS Indianapolis, IN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 21, 1987, 1:11 PM EST for Henry County, Randolph County, Wayne County, Indiana. It was in force for 49 min. 1 report 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 21, 1987, 1:11 PM EST (18:11 UTC)
Expired
May 21, 1987, 2:00 PM EST
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Indianapolis, IN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Henry County, IN, Randolph County, IN, Wayne 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 21, 1:35 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 0Wayne, 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, 6.2 hours before the alert went out and 81 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 1987-05-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1442 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, Dayton/James M C, OH at 12:00Z on 1987-05-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 57 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1442 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-36 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
757 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
57 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
49 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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 21, 12:55 PM EST, 16 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
1255 PM EST THU MAY 21 1987

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING OVER EAST CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST
INDIANA EARLY THIS AFTERNOON.

AT 1215 PM EST INDIANA STATE POLICE REPORTED THAT THEY HAD RECEIVED
A PUBLIC REPORT OF A FUNNEL CLOUD IN HENRY COUNTY. A FEW MINUTES LATER
THERE WAS A PUBLIC REPORT OF A TORNADO TOUCHDOWN AT NEW LISBON...
WHICH IS 15 TO 20 MILES WEST OF RICHMOND. AT 1236 PM STATE POLICE
INVESTIGATING THE STORM IN NEW LISBON REPORTED NO DAMAGE.

IN LYNN...15 MILES NORTH OF RICHMOND...MARBLE SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED AT
1245 PM EST.

INDIANAPOLIS RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS SCATTERED FROM LYNN IN RANDOLPH
COUNTY TO OSGOOD IN RIPLEY COUNTY AND ON TO THE SOUTH. THE STRONGEST
STORMS WERE BETWEEN CAMBRIDGE AND HAGERSTOWN IN WAYNE COUNTY. PEOPLE IN
THIS AREA SHOULD BE READY TO TAKE COVER IF SEVERE WEATHER THREATENS.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING GRADUALLY NORTH.

DF
Local storm report, May 21, 12:58 PM EST, 13 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
1257 AM EST THU MAY 21 1987

1243 PM EST  FUNNEL CLOUD SIGHTED BY THE PUBLIC NEAR DUBLIN
             IN EXTREME WESTERN WAYNE COUNTY.  FUNNEL PHOTOGRAPHED
             BUT IS NOT NOW IN SIGHT. HEADING EAST NORTHEAST.

CURRAN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 21, 12:31 PM ESTTornado WarningINDWayne29 min
May 21, 1:35 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningINDWayne115 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Indiana, 1987Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1987

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.