Alert archive / Indiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 63, NWS Indianapolis, IN

May 31, 1989Elkhart County, Indiana

NWS Indianapolis, IN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 31, 1989, 5:32 PM EST for Elkhart County, Indiana. It was in force for 28 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 31, 1989, 5:32 PM EST (22:32 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1989, 6:00 PM EST
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Indianapolis, IN
Area
Whole counties

County Elkhart 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 31, 5:35 PM 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 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 235 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 1989-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 138 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 1989-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 185 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
138 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-103 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
947 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
185 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
181 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 31, 2:29 PM EST, 3 hours 3 minutes before
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Special weather statement, May 31, 2:44 PM EST, 2 hours 48 minutes before
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Special weather statement, May 31, 3:14 PM EST, 2 hours 18 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS INDIANA
315 PM EST WED MAY 31 1989

AT 305 PM A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED IN NORTHCENTAL
INDIANA. THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED ABOUT 7 MILES NORTH OF PERU.
THIS THUNDERSTORM MAY CONTAIN VERY HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS AND SMALL
HAIL.

BY 345 PM THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL MOVE INTO NORTHWEST WABASH COUNTY.

THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS IN AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. THIS
AREA WAS NORTH OF A LINE FROM MONTICELLO TO HUNTINGTON. THE SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 12 MILES AN HOUR.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM EST AND
INCLUDES THAT PART OF INDIANA...NORTH OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES WEST
NORTHWEST OF LAFAYETTE TO 30 MILES SOUTHEAST OF FORT WAYNE.

HAINES
Special weather statement, May 31, 4:02 PM EST, 1 hour 30 minutes before
CENTRAL INDIANA PRECIPITATION SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
355 PM EST WED MAY 31 1989

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM EST AND
INCLUDES THAT PART OF INDIANA...NORTH OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES WEST
NORTHWEST OF LAFAYETTE TO 30 MILES SOUTHEAST OF FORT WAYNE.

AT 350 PM EST...AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND A FEW VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS
WERE OVER THE EXTREME NORTHWEST PORTION AND THE EXTREME NORTHEAST
PORTION OF THE STATE.

THE NORTHWEST PORTION WAS WAS MOVING INTO LAKE COUNTY INDIANA NORTHEAST
OF KANKAKEE ILLINOIS...THE NORTHEAST PORTION WAS SITUATED FROM JUST
NORTH OF LOGANSPORT TO EAST OF  FORT WAYNE.

THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WAS LOCATED ON T4HE ILLINOIS INDIANA
BORDER NEAR SCHNEIDER IN LAKE COUNTY...AND OVER THE CITY OF FORT WAYNE.

ALL PRECIPITATION WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 TO 25 MPH.
BPRUITT
Special weather statement, May 31, 4:05 PM EST, 1 hour 27 minutes before
SPSECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
355 PM EST WED MAY 31 1989

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM EST AND
INCLUDES THAT PART OF INDIANA...NORTH OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES WEST
NORTHWEST OF LAFAYETTE TO 30 MILES SOUTHEAST OF FORT WAYNE.

AT 350 PM EST...AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND A FEW VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS
WERE OVER THE EXTREME NORTHWEST PORTION AND THE EXTREME NORTHEAST
PORTION OF THE STATE.

THE NORTHWEST PORTION WAS WAS MOVING INTO LAKE COUNTY INDIANA NORTHEAST
OF KANKAKEE ILLINOIS...THE NORTHEAST PORTION WAS SITUATED FROM JUST
NORTH OF LOGANSPORT TO EAST OF  FORT WAYNE.

THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WAS LOCATE6D ON THE ILLINOIS INDIANA
BORDER NEAR SCHNEIDER IN LAKE COUNTY...AND OVER THE CITY OF FORT WAYNE.

ALL PRECIPITATION WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 TO 25 MPH.
BPRUITT
Special weather statement, May 31, 5:17 PM EST, 15 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
515 PM EST WED MAY 31 1989

AT 500 PM STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING THROUGH NORTHERN INDIANA.
THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN SOUTHERN LA PORTE COUNTY ABOUT
15 MILES SOUTH OF LA PORTE...5 MILES SOUTH OF SOUTH BEND AND BETWEEN
SOUTH BEND AND ELKHART.

BY 600 PM THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE THROUGH NORTHERN MARSHELL
COUNTY AND THE NORTHERN HALF OF ELKHART COUNTY.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM EST AND
INCLUDES THAT PART OF INDIANA...NORTH OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES WEST
NORTHWEST OF LAFAYETTE TO 30 MILES SOUTHEAST OF FORT WAYNE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 31, 6:11 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDKosciusko49 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.