Alert archive / Indiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 101, NWS Indianapolis, IN

July 9, 1989Elkhart County, Saint Joseph County, Indiana

NWS Indianapolis, IN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 9, 1989, 2:20 AM EST for Elkhart County, Saint Joseph County, Indiana. It was in force for 40 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
Jul 9, 1989, 2:20 AM EST (07:20 UTC)
Expired
Jul 9, 1989, 3:00 AM EST
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Indianapolis, IN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Elkhart County, IN, Saint Joseph 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
Jul 9, 2:35 AM ESTHail 0.75St. Joseph, IN
Jul 9, 2:45 AM ESTThunderstorm Wind 0Elkhart, 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 00:00Z, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 247 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 00:00Z on 1989-07-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 843 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1989-07-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 48 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
843 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1696 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
48 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
127 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KIND 090721
SVRSBN
INC039-141-090800-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SOUTH BEND IN
220 AM EST SUN JUL 9 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  300 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL INDIANA
          ...ELKHART...EASTERN ST. JOSEPH
 
AT 210 AM EST...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER
MISHAWAKA INDIANA.
 
MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.
 
PEOPLE IN THE CITY OF ELKHART ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM.
STEIGERWALDT
 
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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, Jul 9, 1:06 AM EST, 1 hour 14 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS INDIANA
103 AM EST SUN JUL 9  1989

IN INDIANA SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 588 IS IN EFFECT
UNTIL 7 AM EST AND INCLUDES THAT PART OF INDIANA...
NORTH OF A LINE FROM 5 MILES SOUTH OF KENTLAND TO 10 MILES NORTHEAST OF
KOKOMO...AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 10 MILES NORTHEAST OF KOKOMO TO 5 MILES
WEST OF ELKHART.

SOME CITIES INCLUDED ARE... RENSSELAER...SOUTH BEND...PLYMOUTH...
MONTICELLO...LOGANSPORT AND PERU.

REMEMBER...A WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE
WEATHER IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD
BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR
LATfER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
STEIGERWALDT

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 9, 3:09 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDSaint Joseph36 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Indiana, 1989Every severe thunderstorm warning 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.