Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Indianapolis, IN

September 12, 1988Madison County, Indiana

NWS Indianapolis, IN issued this tornado warning at Sep 12, 1988, 3:10 PM EST for Madison County, Indiana. It was in force for 35 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 12, 1988, 3:10 PM EST (20:10 UTC)
Expired
Sep 12, 1988, 3:45 PM EST
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Indianapolis, IN
Area
Whole counties

County Madison 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

Dayton/James M C, OH (KDAY), launched 12:00Z, 8.2 hours before the alert went out and 133 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 1988-09-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 89 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 1988-09-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 87 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
89 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-147 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1170 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
87 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
89 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 122018 COR
TORIND
INC095-122045-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
316 PM EST MON SEP 12 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 345 PM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTY OF

CENTRAL INDIANA...SOUTHERN MADISON

AT 310 PM EST A LOW HANGING CLOUD WITH DEBRIS WAS REPORTED NEAR THE
PENDLETON REFORMATORY IN PENDLETON IN SOUTHERN MADISON COUNTY.
WEATHER RADAR SHOWED THIS STORM 20 MILES NORTHEAST OF DOWNTOWN
INDIANAPOLIS.

PERSONS IN SOUTHERN MADISON COUNTY AND THE CITIES OF PENDLETON AND
ANDERSON SHOULD SEEK SHELTER IN A STURDAY STRUCTURE AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
...CORRECTION FOR TIME OF THE STORM REPORT TO 310 PM EST....
EDWARDS

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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, Sep 12, 2:16 PM EST, 54 minutes before
BULLETIN
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS INDIANA
215 PM EST MON SEP 12 1988

AT 205 PM EST THERE WAS A REPORT FROM AN INDIANAPOLIS AIRPORT AUTHORITY
EMPLOYEE OF A ROTATING FUNNEL CLOUD VISIBLE NORTH OF THE AIPORT. THIS
CLOUD WAS ASSOCIATED WITH A HEAVY RAINSHOWER AND HAS PRODUCED WIND
GUSTS TO NEAR 45 MILES AN HOUR NEAR ROCKVILLE ROAD ON THE WESTSIDE
OF INDIANAPOLIS.

AT 215 PM EST THERE WAS A REPORT OF ROOF DAMAGE NEAR ROCKVILLE AND
GIRLS SCHOOL ROAD. PERSONS IN WESTERN MARION COUNTY AND NEAR THE
AREA OF SPEEDWAY SHOULD BE ALERT FOR GUSTY WINDS BETWEEN 215PM AND
230 PM EST.
EDWARDS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 12, 2:20 PM ESTTornado WarningINDMarion25 min
Sep 12, 2:35 PM ESTTornado WarningINDHamilton40 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Indiana, 1988Every tornado warning in 1988Tornadoes in 1988

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.