Alert archive / Kentucky / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 19, NWS Indianapolis, IN

May 15, 1990Hart County, Kentucky

NWS Indianapolis, IN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 15, 1990, 3:48 PM CDT for Hart County, Kentucky. It was in force for 42 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 15, 1990, 3:48 PM CDT (20:48 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 1990, 4:30 PM CDT
In force
42 min
Issued by
NWS Indianapolis, IN
Area
Whole counties

County Hart County, KY

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 15, 4:20 PM CDTHail 0.75Hart, KY

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

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 145 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1990-05-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 126 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 1990-05-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 69 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
126 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-301 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1280 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
69 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
74 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 KEVV 152048
SVREVV
KYC099-152130-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EVANSVILLE IN
348 PM CDT TUE MAY 15 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EVANSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  430 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY
          ...HART
 
GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED GRAYSON COUNTY NEAR MILLERSTOWN...
ABOUT 70 MILES SOUTHEAST OF EVANSVILLE. IT WAS MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH
ALL WILL REACH THE TOWN OF BONNIEVILLE IN HART COUNTY BY 415 PM CDT.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD
PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 58 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND
DEADLY LpIGHTNING.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO
PRODUCE A TORNADO. TAKE COVER INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY
AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

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 15, 9:56 AM CDT, 5 hours 52 minutes before
INZ004>015-151630-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
955 AM EST TUE MAY 15 1990

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO MOVE ACROSS CENTRAL AND
SOUTHERN INDIANA AT 940 AM EST.

THE STRONGEST STORM WAS 10 MILES NORTHEAST OF BLOOMINGTON NEAR
NEEDMORE. THIS STORM PRODUCES MARBLE SIZE HAIL ON THE EAST SIDE OF
BLOOMINGTON AT 930 PM EST.

NEW THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING 10 MILES OF SOUTHWEST AND 15 MILES
NORTHWEST OF KOKOMO. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING TOWARD KOKOMO AND
GRISSOM AIR FORCE BASE AND MAY PRODUCE HEAVY RAINS AND POSSIBLE
STREET FLOODING. SOME SMALL HAIL IS ALSO POSSIBLE.

A LARGE 40 MILE WIDE AREA OF MOSTLY LIGHT SHOWERS WAS LOCATED ACROSS
EAST CENT$RAL TO SOUTHWEST INDIANA FROM WINCHESTER TO VINCENNES.
THE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

WJG
Special weather statement, May 15, 2:12 PM CDT, 1 hour 36 minutes before
INZ008-011>015-160200Z

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS INDIANA
211 PM EST TUE MAY 15 1990

IN INDIANA TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 237 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM EST
AND INCLUDES THAT PART OF INDIANA...

SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 10 MILES SOUTH OF TERRE HAUTE TO 20 MILES
NORTHWEST OF CINCINNATI OHIO.

SOME CITIES INCLUDED ARE... BLOOMINGTON...COLUMBUS...BEDFORD...
SEYMOUR...LINTON...VINCENNES...EVANSVILLE...SALEM...MADISON AND
LAWRENCEBURG.

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.
STEIGERWALDT
Special weather statement, May 15, 3:16 PM CDT, 32 minutes before
INZ008-011>015-160200Z

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS INDIANA
310 PM EST TUE MAY 15 1990

A INDIANA TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM EST FOR
SOUTHERN INDIANA.

AS OF 300 PM EST NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED IN INDIANA.
RADAR SHOWED AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSHOWERS OVER EAST CENTRAL
AND SOUTHEAST INDIANA MOVING EAST INTO OHIO. THE BACK EDGE OF THIS AREA
WAS FROM 15 MILES SOUTH OF RICHMOND SOUTHEAST THROUGH SEYMOUR...
WHICH IS 15 MILES SOUTH OF COLUMBUS.

OTHER SHOWERS WERE SCATTERED OVER CENTRAL INDIANA. THESE SHOWERS
WERE NEAR MUNCIE...10 MILES NORTHWEST OF LAFAYETTE...NEAR TERRE
HAUTE AND NEAR SULLIVAN...WHICH IS 20 MILES SOUTH OF TERRE HA+UTE.

A LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS WITH A FEW STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS OVER
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS AT 3 PM EST. THIS AREA WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHERN AND
WEST CENTRAL INDIANA FROM TERRE HAUTE SOUTH TOWARD EVANSVILLE
BY 4 PM EST.

WJG
Special weather statement, May 15, 3:23 PM CDT, 25 minutes before
INZ008-011>015-160200Z

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS INDIANA
310 PM EST TUE MAY 15 1990

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM EST FOR SOUTHERN INDIANA.

AS OF 300 PM EST NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED IN INDIANA.
RADAR SHOWED AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSHOWERS OVER EAST CENTRAL
AND SOUTHEAST INDIANA MOVING EAST INTO OHIO. THE BACK EDGE OF THIS AREA
WAS FROM 15 MILES SOUTH OF RICHMOND SOUTHEAST THROUGH SEYMOUR...
WHICH IS 15 MILES SOUTH OF COLUMBUS.

OTHER SHOWERS WERE SCATTERED OVER CENTRAL INDIANA. THESE SHOWERS
WERE NEAR MUNCIE...10 MILES NORTHWEST OF LAFAYETTE...NEAR TERRE
HAUTE AND NEAR SULLIVAN...WHICH IS 20 MILES SOUTH OF TERRE HAUTE.

A LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS WITH A FEW STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS OVER
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS AT 3 PM EST. THIS AREA WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHERN AND
WEST CENTRAL INDIANA FROM TERRE HAUTE SOUTH TOWARD EVANSVILLE
BY 4 PM EST.

WJG
CORRECTION 1ST L5INE DELETE 1ST INDIANA.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 4:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDHart47 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kentucky, 1990Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1990

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.