Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Wilmington, OH

July 23, 1989Switzerland County, Indiana

NWS Wilmington, OH issued this tornado warning at Jul 23, 1989, 5:56 PM EST for Switzerland County, Indiana. It was in force for 34 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 23, 1989, 5:56 PM EST (22:56 UTC)
Expired
Jul 23, 1989, 6:30 PM EST
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Wilmington, OH
Area
Whole counties

County Switzerland 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, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 139 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 1989-07-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 690 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 1989-07-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 1 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
690 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-22 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
920 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
25 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 KCVG 232256
TORCVG
INC155-232330-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CINCINNATI OH
656 PM EDT SUN JUL 23 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CINCINNATI HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHEAST INDIANA
          ...SWITZERLAND
 
SWITZERLAND COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE REPORTED A TORNADO BETWEEN FLORENCE
AND PATRIOT ON HIGHWAY 156. A TRAILER WAS BLOWN OVER.
 
THE TORNADO WAS MOVING NORTWEST AT 15 MPH.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
JN

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, Jul 23, 4:30 PM EST, 1 hour 26 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DAYTON OH
525 PM EDT SUN JUL 23 1989

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SOME HEAVY RAIN WERE MOVING TOWARDS DAYTON
AT 52O PM EDT.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
ACROSS PREBLE...SOUTHWEST DARKE AND SOUTHWEST  MONTGOMERY COUNTY. THE LEADING
EDGE OF THE AREA WAS FROM PALESTINE TO WEST CARROLLTON TO NORTH OF WILMINGTON.
THE AREA IS MOVING NORTH AT 20 MPH AND WILL MOVE INTO THE DAYTON AREA BY 600 PM
EDT.

SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE BRIEF VERY HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLE GUSTY
WINDS. THESE RAIN MAY CAUSE SOME STANDING AND PONDING OF WATER ESPECIALLY
IN LOW LYING AREA.

PEOPLE LIVING IN THE PATH OF THSES S:TORMS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR ANY CHANGES
OR UPDATES IN FORECAST.
TORRENCE
Special weather statement, Jul 23, 4:39 PM EST, 1 hour 17 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DAYTON OH
525 PM EDT SUN JUL 23 1989

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SOME WITH HEAVY RAIN WERE MOVING TOWARDS DAYTON
AT 52O PM EDT.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
ACROSS PREBLE...SOUTHWEST DARKE AND SOUTHWEST  MONTGOMERY COUNTY. THE LEADING
EDGE OF THE AREA WAS FROM PALESTINE TO WEST CARROLLTON TO NORTH OF WILMINGTON.
THE AREA IS MOVING NORTH AT 20 MPH AND WILL MOVE INTO THE DAYTON AREA BY 600 PM
EDT.

SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE BRIEF VERY HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLE GUSTY
WINDS. THESE RAIN MAY CAUSE SOME STANDING AND PONDING OF WATER ESPECIALLY
IN LOW LYING AREA.

PEOPLE LIVING IN THE PATH OMF THESE STORMS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR ANY CHANGES
OR UPDATES IN FORECAST.

TORRENCE
...CORRECTED WORDING AND SPELLING...
Special weather statement, Jul 23, 4:41 PM EST, 1 hour 15 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CINCINNATI OH
540 PM EDT SUN JUL 23 1989

THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE OVER NORTHERN KENTUCKY AND
WESTERN OHIO.

AT 530 PM EDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
OVER EASTERN INDIANA... WESTERN OHIO AND NORTHERN KENTUCKY.
THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS WERE OVER SOUTHERN BOONE COUNTY
KENTUCKY AND WARREN...CLINTON AND HIGHLAND COUNTIES OF SONUTHWEST OHIO.

PONDING OF WATER AND FLOODING OF STREETS WITH POOR DRAINAGE IS LIKELY
WITH THESE STORMS.

THE RAIN WAS MOVING NORTH AT ABOUT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

JN
Special weather statement, Jul 23, 5:49 PM EST, 7 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CINCINNATI OH
645 PM EDT SUN JUL 23 1989

THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE OVER NORTHERN KENTUCKY AND
SOUTHWESTERN OHIO.

AT 630 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY
RAIN ACROSS GRANT...GALLATIN AND SOUTHERN BOONE COUNTIES OF KENTUCKY.
OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE OCCURRING OVER
HIGHLAND AND CLINTON COUNTIES OF OHIO.

LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IS LIKELY WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS. PONDING OF
WATER AND FLOODING OF STREETS WILL OCCUR IN AREAS OF POOR DRAINAGE.

ROADS THAT BECOME SUBMERGED WITH WATER SHOULD BE AVOIDED.

THE MOVEMENT OF THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WAS TO THE NORTHWEST AT
15 MPH.
MANUEL

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Indiana, 1989Every tornado warning in 1989Tornadoes in 1989

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.