Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 23, NWS Indianapolis, IN

June 3, 1989Elkhart County, Indiana

NWS Indianapolis, IN issued this tornado warning at Jun 3, 1989, 10:26 AM EST for Elkhart County, Indiana. It was in force for 34 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 3, 1989, 10:26 AM EST (15:26 UTC)
Expired
Jun 3, 1989, 11:00 AM EST
In force
34 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Dayton/James M C, OH (KDAY), launched 12:00Z, 3.4 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 1989-06-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 370 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 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 1989-06-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 76 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
370 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-30 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
860 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
76 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
93 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 KSBN 031528
TORSBN
INC039-031600-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SOUTH BEND IN
1026 AM EST SAT JUN 3 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SOUTH BEND HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL INDIANA
          ...ELKHART
 
AT 1020 AM EST...RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR US 20 AND US 19
IN WESTERN ELKHART COUNTY.
 
THE TORNADO IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.
 
THE CITY OF ELKHART IS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO.
 
 
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.

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, Jun 3, 4:31 AM EST, 5 hours 55 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...INDIANA SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
430 AM EST SAT JUN 3 1989

ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE OVER INDIANA TODAY AND OVER
CTENTRAL AND SOUTHERN INDIANA TONIGHT.
STEIGERWALDT
Special weather statement, Jun 3, 7:40 AM EST, 2 hours 46 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
738 AM EST SAT JUN 3 1989

AT 730 AM EST...WIDELY SCATTERED VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER
CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA.

THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE 25 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LAFAYETTE...25 AND 30
MILES EAST OF INDIANAPOLIS...AND 15 MILES WEST OF COLUMBUS.

MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

AT 655 AM EST...THE PUBLIC REPORTED MARBLE SIZE HAIL AND BRIEF STREET
FLOODING ON THE SOUTHEAST SIDE OF INDIANAPOLIS.

VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND GUSTY WINDS AND SMALL
HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS.

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE LOCATED BETWEEN MUNCIE AND RICHMOND...10
MILES SOUTHWEST OF KOKOMO...AND 10 MILES NORTHEAST OF COLUMBUS BY 815 AM
EST.
STEIGERWALDT
Special weather statement, Jun 3, 8:33 AM EST, 1 hour 53 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
830 AM EST SAT JUN 3 1989

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER EAST CENTRAL...NORTH CENTRAL AND
NORTHWEST INDIANA AT 820 AM.

OVER EAST CENTRAL INDIANA...STORMS WERE MOVING TOWARD RICHMOND. STATE
POLICE REPORTED SMALL HAIL /ONE QUARTER OF AN INCH/ ALONG INTERSTATE
70...15 MILES WEST OF RICHMOND AT 820 AM. THE STORMS WILL MOVE TO
RICHMOND BY 900 AM.

OVER NORTH CENTRAL INDIANA...STORMS WERE MONTICELLO AND LOGANSPORT.
THOSE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST TOWARD WINAMAC AND ROCHESTER.

STORMS OVER THE NORTHWEST WERE FROM AROUND RENSSELEAR TO TAB...OR 40
MILES NORTHWEST TO 30 MILES WEST OF LAFAYETTE. THE STORMS WERE MOVING
NORTHEAST TOWARD MEDARYVILLE AND THE NORTH SIDE OF LAFAYETTE.

ALL THE STORMS HAVE DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL. SMALL
HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS ARE LIKELY. SOME FLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS
...DRAINAGE DITCHES AND LOW LYING AREAS IS6 POSSIBLE.

DS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 3, 9:18 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDMadison27 min
Jun 3, 9:47 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDMadison43 min
Jun 3, 10:16 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDJasper29 min
Jun 3, 10:16 AM ESTTornado WarningINDElkhart, Kosciusko59 min
Jun 3, 12:24 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDClay, Owen, Putnam36 min
Jun 3, 1:22 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDHoward, Tipton38 min
Jun 3, 2:10 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDHancock30 min
Jun 3, 2:46 PM ESTTornado WarningINDCarroll, Clinton, Tippecanoe44 min
Jun 3, 6:12 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDRandolph, Wayne33 min
Jun 3, 6:36 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDDecatur, Rush39 min

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.