Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 15, NWS Indianapolis, IN

May 19, 1989Posey County, Vanderburgh County, Indiana

NWS Indianapolis, IN issued this tornado warning at May 19, 1989, 6:50 PM CDT for Posey County, Vanderburgh County, Indiana. It was in force for 25 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 19, 1989, 6:50 PM CDT (23:50 UTC)
Expired: May 19, 1989, 7:15 PM CDT
In force: 25 min
Issued by: NWS Indianapolis, IN
Area: Whole counties

Counties Posey County, IN, Vanderburgh 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 19, 7:05 PM CDT	Tornado F1	Vanderburgh, 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

Paducah/Barkley, KY (KPAH), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 136 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 228 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -24 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 795 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 211 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 167 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.1
Supercell composite: 1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KEVV 192351
TOREVV
INC129-163-200015-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EVANSVILLE IN
650 PM CDT FRI MAY 19 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EVANSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  715 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN SOUTHWEST INDIANA
          ...POSEY...VANDERBURGH
 
A TORNADO TOUCHDOWN WAS REPORTED NEAR HIGHWAY 62 AT THE MEAD JOHNSON
PLANT EAST OF MT VERNON INDIANA AND WAS REPORTED BY THE INDIANA STATE
POLICE.
 
 
AT 645 PM CDT...A STRONG AND DANGEROUS THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING OVER
SOUTHERN POSEY COUNTY INDIANA TOWARD EVANSVILLE...AND WOULD REACH THE
WESTERN CITY LIMITS BY 7 PM CDT.
 
NUMEROUS REPORTS OF FUNNEL CLOUDS HAVE ALSO BEEN REPORTED.
 
 
 
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.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND C-OVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
ZIMMER

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, May 19, 5:23 PM CDT, 1 hour 27 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
520 PM EST FRI MAY 19 1989

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER WESTERN INDIANA. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS
WITH HEAVY RAINS AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING EXTENDED FROM ABOUT 20 MILES
NORTHEAST OF LAFAYETTE THROUGH CRAWFORDSVILLE TO 30 MILES SOUTHEAST
OF TERRE HAUTE.

MORE THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALONG THE INDIANA AND ILLINOIS BORDER
APPROACHING WILLIAMSPORT AND ATTICA...ABOUT 30 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
LAFAYETTE.

THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL REACH
LOGANSPORT...GREENCASTLE AND INDIANAPOLIS BETWEEN 530 AND 600 PM EST.
HEAVY RAIN AND GUSTY WINDS WILL ACCOMPANY THE STRONGEST STORMS.

THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD ARRIVE IN BLOOMINGTON AROUND 600 PM EST.
EDWARDS

Special weather statement, May 19, 6:22 PM CDT, 28 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
620 PM EST FRI MAY 19 1989

AT 615 PM EST...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS COVERED MUCH OF THE WEST PART
OF INDIANA...AND WERE MOVING INTO CENTRAL INDIANA.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE 20 MILES EAST OF LAFAYETTE...WITH
OTHER STRONG STORMS 10...20 AND 30 MILES NORTH OF TERRE HAUTE. ANOTHER
STRONG STORM WAS 20 MILES WEST AND NORTHWEST OF BLOOMINGTON.

MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE THROUGH LINDEN...CRAWFORDSVILLE...AND
WAYNETOWN BETWEEN 630 AND 645 PM EST. OTHER STRONG STORMS WILL MOVE
THROUGH MARTINSVILLE AND TO THE BLOOMINGTON AREA BY ABOUT 645 PM.
.
AT 545 PM EST...THE STATE POLICE REPORTED PEA SIZE HAIL...SMALL TREE
LIMBS BLOW DOWN AND TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS REDUCING VISIBILITIES TO ZERO
AT HILLSDALE...OR 22 MILES NORTH OF TERRE HAUTE.
.
AT 600 PM EST...THE WHITE COUNTY SHERIFF REPORTED VISIBILITY DOWN TO 100
FEET AT CHALMERS...WHICH IS 15 MILES NORTH OF LAFAYETTE.

AT 611 PM EST...A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS REPORTED BY THE STATE POLICE ON
STATE ROAD 46 IN OWEN COUNTY MOVING EAST.

THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING PEA SIZE HAIL
...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...VERY HEAVY RAIN AND LOTS OF LIGHTNING.
STEIGERWALDT

Nearby

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