Alert archive / Illinois / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 27, NWS Indianapolis, IN

May 16, 1990White County, Illinois; Posey County, Indiana

NWS Indianapolis, IN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 16, 1990, 7:41 PM CDT for White County, Illinois; Posey County, Indiana. It was in force for 49 min. 3 reports 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 16, 1990, 7:41 PM CDT (00:41 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 1990, 8:30 PM CDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Indianapolis, IN
Area
Whole counties

Counties White County, IL, Posey 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
May 16, 7:42 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0White, IL
May 16, 8:00 PM CDTTornado F1White, IL
May 16, 8:00 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Posey, 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 00:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 125 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, Paducah/Barkley, KY at 00:00Z on 1990-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1794 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, Paducah/Barkley, KY at 00:00Z on 1990-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 249 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1794 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-11 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
878 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
249 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
268 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.7
Supercell composite
14.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KEVV 170041 RRA
SVREVV
ILC193-INC129-170130-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EVANSVILLE IN
741 PM CDT WED MAY 16 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EVANSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN SOUTHEAST ILLINOIS
          ...WHITE
IN SOUTHWEST INDIANA
          ...POSEY
 
AT 740 PM CDT...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR
ENFIELD ILLINOIS...ABOUT 40 MILES WEST OF EVANSVILLE. IT WAS MOVING
EAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR TOWARD CROSSVILLE AND NEW HARMONY INDIANA
BY ABOUT 8 PM CDT.
 
 
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.
 
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 LIGHTNING.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO
PRODUCE A TORNADO. TAKE COVER INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY
AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
ZIMMER

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

Local storm report, May 16, 1:50 PM CDT, 5 hours 51 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
200 PM EST WED MAY 16 1990

MAY 16TH STORM DAMAGE...LATE REPORT

430 AM EST BOONE COUNTY....CITIZEN REPORTED HALF DOZEN TREES DOWN AND
           UPcROOTED NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF US 421 AND SR 32 IN EASTERN
           BOONE COUNTY 10 MILES EAST OF LEBANON...20 MILES NORTHWEST
           OF INDIANAPOLIS.

CURRAN
Local storm report, May 16, 4:11 PM CDT, 3 hours 30 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
410 PM EST WED MAY 16 1990

MAY 16TH STORM DAMAGE...LATE REPORT

JST BEFORE 5AM...6 MILES SOUTH OF TRAFALGAR IN..11/2 MILES NORTH OF
THE JOHNSON/BROWN COUNTY LINE..AT LAMB LAKE. LOUD ROAR...FELT LARGE
PRESSURE CHANGE..HAD SEVERAL WINDOWS BLOWN OUT OF HOUSE. NUMEROUS
3 TO 4 FOOT DIAMETER TREES UPROOTED. TOPS OF SEVERAL LARGE TREES
HAD TOPS TWISTED OFF ABOUT 35 FT ABOVE THE GROUND.

GRAY
Special weather statement, May 16, 4:47 PM CDT, 2 hours 54 minutes before
INZ011>015-162145-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS INDIANA
545 PM EST WED MAY 16 1990

IN INDIANA THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 248 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL
10 PM EST AND INCLUDES THE SOUTHERN THIRD OF INDIANA SOUTH OF A LINE
FROM 15 MILES SOUTH OF TERRE HAUTE TO 10 MILES NORTH OF CINCINNATI.

SOME CITIES INCLUDED IN THE WATCH ARE...BLOOMINGTON...VINCENNES...
EVANSVILLE...COLUMBUS...MADISON...SALEM AND JASPER.

REMEMBER...A WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS 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.

KOLDITZ
Special weather statement, May 16, 4:55 PM CDT, 2 hours 46 minutes before
INZ011>015-162145-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTED FOR TIME IN HEADER...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS INDIANA
445 PM EST WED MAY 16 1990

IN INDIANA THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 248 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL
10 PM EST AND INCLUDES THE SOUTHERN THIRD OF INDIANA SOUTH OF A LINE
FROM 15 MILES SOUTH OF TERRE HAUTE TO 10 MILES NORTH OF CINCINNATI.

SOME CITIES INCLUDED IN THE WATCH ARE...BLOOMINGTON...VINCENNES...
EVANSVILLE...COLUMBUS...MADISON...SALEM AND JASPER.

REMEMBER...A WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS 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.

KOLDITZ
Special weather statement, May 16, 5:36 PM CDT, 2 hours 5 minutes before
INZ011>015-162330-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS INDIANA
535 PM EST WED MAY 16 1990

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE SOUTHERN THIRD OF
INDIANA UNTIL 10 PM EST. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR
CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN INDIANA FOR TONIGHT.

AT 530 PM EST...SHOWERS WERE MOVING INTO WEST CENTRAL INDIANA...BETWEEN
TERRE HAUTE AND LINTON. THEY WERE MOVING EAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR.

FARTHER SOUTH...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL
WERE OCCURRING OVER EXTREME SOUTHERN INDIANA. THE STORMS WERE SOUTH
OF A LINE FROM VINCENNES TO MADISON. VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS FALLING
OVER EXTREME SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA...NORTHWEST OF LOUISVILLE K%ENTUCKY.

THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR.

GRAY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 7:37 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningINDJackson3 hr
May 16, 7:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDGibson, Vanderburgh53 min
May 16, 8:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDWarrick43 min
May 16, 8:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDSpencer44 min
May 16, 8:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDPike44 min
May 16, 8:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDDubois, Perry67 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Illinois, 1990Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Indiana, 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.