Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 30, NWS Indianapolis, IN

August 5, 1989Saint Joseph County, Indiana

NWS Indianapolis, IN issued this tornado warning at Aug 5, 1989, 1:38 AM EST for Saint Joseph County, Indiana. It was in force for 37 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
Aug 5, 1989, 1:38 AM EST (06:38 UTC)
Expired
Aug 5, 1989, 2:15 AM EST
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Indianapolis, IN
Area
Whole counties

County 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
Aug 5, 2:00 AM ESTThunderstorm Wind 0St. Joseph, 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, 6.6 hours before the alert went out and 260 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 1989-08-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2892 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 1989-08-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 131 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
2892 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
906 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
131 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
144 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.3
Supercell composite
6.7

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 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, Aug 5, 1:33 AM EST, 5 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS INDIANA
 130 AM  EST SAT AUG 5  1989

 IN INDIANA SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 661 IS IN EFFECT
 UNTIL 700  AM EST AND INCLUDES THAT PART OF INDIANA...
 NORTH OF A LINE FROM FRANKFORT IN CLINTON COUNTY TO PORTLAND IN JAY
 COUNTY AND EAST OF A LINE FROM FRANKFORT IN CLINTON COUNTY TO MICHIGAN
 CITY IN LA PORTE COUNTY.

 SOME CITIES INCLUDED ARE... LA PORTE...SOUTH BEND...ELKHART...FORT
 WAYNE...LOGANSPORTE...KOKOMO AND MARION.

 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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 5, 1:12 AM ESTTornado WarningINDLaPorte33 min
Aug 5, 5:33 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDDelaware, Randolph27 min
Aug 5, 2:10 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDMarion35 min
Aug 5, 5:44 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDLawrence46 min
Aug 5, 6:39 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDJackson21 min
Aug 5, 6:46 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDBrown, Monroe44 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.