Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 25, NWS Indianapolis, IN

June 26, 1989Berrien County, Michigan

NWS Indianapolis, IN issued this tornado warning at Jun 26, 1989, 5:46 PM EDT for Berrien County, Michigan. It was in force for 29 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: Jun 26, 1989, 5:46 PM EDT (21:46 UTC)
Expired: Jun 26, 1989, 6:15 PM EDT
In force: 29 min
Issued by: NWS Indianapolis, IN
Area: Whole counties

County Berrien County, MI

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
Jun 26, 6:00 PM EDT	Hail 0.75	Berrien, MI

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

Detroit, MI (KFNT), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 262 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: 102 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -162 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1533 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 83 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 92 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 262146
TORSBN
MIC021-262215-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SOUTH BEND IN
446 PM EST (546 PM EDT) MON JUN 26 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SOUTH BEND HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  515 PM EST (615 PM EDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN
          ...BERRIEN
 
AT 545 PM EDT...BERRIEN COUNTY SHERIFF REPORTED A POSSIBLE
TORNADO JUST NORTH OF BERRIEN SPRINGS MICHIGAN...20 MILES
NORTH OF SOUTH BEND.
 
TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE EAU CLAIRE AND BERRIEN
CENTER IN MICHIGAN.
 
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 CULVE%RT.
MCCLUNG

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 26, 2:20 PM EDT, 3 hours 26 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS INDIANA
118 PM EST MON JUN 26 1989

IN INDIANA SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 538 IS IN EFFECT
UNTIL 900 PM EST AND INCLUDES EXTREME NORTHWEST INDIANA.
THE WATCH AREA IS FOR THAT PART OF INDIANA NORTH OF A LINE FROM
50 MILES SOUTH OF CHICAGO TO WARSAW...AND WEST OF A LINE FROM WARSAW
TO LAGRANGE.

SOME CITIES INCLUDED ARE...CROWN POINT...GARY...MICHIGAN CITY...
SOUTH BEND AND ELKHART.

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
LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

AT 115 PM EST SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING OVER EXTREME
NORTHWEST INDIANA.  HOWEVER NONE OF THEM APPEARED SEVERE AT THIS TIME.
HENDRICKSON

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 26, 5:07 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Cass	53 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Michigan, 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.