Alert archive / Ohio / Tornado Warnings in 1991

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Wilmington, OH

August 20, 1991Warren County, Ohio

NWS Wilmington, OH issued this tornado warning at Aug 20, 1991, 2:48 PM EDT for Warren County, Ohio. It was in force for 27 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 20, 1991, 2:48 PM EDT (18:48 UTC)
Expired
Aug 20, 1991, 3:15 PM EDT
In force
27 min
Issued by
NWS Wilmington, OH
Area
Whole counties

County Warren County, OH

The nearest sounding before it

Dayton/James M C, OH (KDAY), launched 12:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 53 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 1991-08-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 120 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, Dayton/James M C, OH at 12:00Z on 1991-08-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 12 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
120 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
619 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
12 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
23 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 KCVG 201850
TORCVG
OHC165-201915-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CINCINNATI OH
248 PM EDT TUE AUG 20 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CINCINNATI HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  315 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHWEST OHIO
          ...WARREN
 
A COLD AIR FUNNEL CLOUD TOUCHED DOWN INSIDE KINGS ISLAND AMUSEMENT
PARK IN SOUTHERN WARREN COUNTY. THIS TORNADO IS WEAK BUT MAY CAUSE
DAMAGE AS IT MOVES SOUTHEAST.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
 
PYTLAK

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 20, 11:57 AM EDT, 2 hours 51 minutes before
OHZ006-007-009-011-201800-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBUS OH
1155 AM EDT TUE AUG 20 1991

COLD AIR FULLELS ARE BEING OBSERVED IN MADISON COUNTY LATE THIS
MORNING.

THE PUBLIC AND THE MADISON COUNTY SHERIFF DEPARTMENT OFFICE IN MADISON
COUNTY REPORTED THAT THEY SIGHTED A FUNNEL CLOUD ALOFT JUST NORTH OF
INTERSTATE 70 BETWEEN ROUTES 38 AND 42.

RADAR INDICATED SCATTERED SHOWERS AND POSSIBLE THUNDERSTORMS IN THAT
AREA.

GENERALLY...FUNNEL CLOUDS OCCUR IN CONJUNCTION WITH WELL DEVELOPED AND
INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WHICH HAVE FORMED IN A WARM...MOIST AIR MASS.
THUNDERSTORMS OF THIS VARIETY AND INTENSITY NEARLY ALWAYS FORM ALONG
OR SOME DISTANCE AHEAD OF A STRONG COLD FRONT.

AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT CONDITION PREVAILS OVER CENTRAL OHIO TODAY.
THERE ARE NO STRONG COLD FRONTS IN THE AREA.  THERE IS LITTLE OR NO
POTENTIAL FOR INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS AS THE AIR IS RELATIVELY COOL.

STUDIES OF COLD AIR FUNNEL CLOUDS SHOW THAT THEY RARELY TOUCH THE
GROUND AND RARELY DO ANY DAMAGE.  THESE FUNNEL CLOUDS NORMALLY
PROTRUDE A FEW HUNDRED FEET DOWNWARD FROM THE PARENT CLOUD...ROTATE OR
SPIN LIKE A TOP...AND LAST A FEW MINUTES BEFORE DISSIPATING.

GROH
Special weather statement, Aug 20, 11:59 AM EDT, 2 hours 49 minutes before
OHZ006-007-009-011-201800-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBUS OH
1155 AM EDT TUE AUG 20 1991

COLD AIR FUNNELS ARE BEING OBSERVED IN MADISON COUNTY LATE THIS
MORNING.

THE PUBLIC AND THE MADISON COUNTY SHERIFF DEPARTMENT OFFICE IN MADISON
COUNTY REPORTED THAT THEY SIGHTED A FUNNEL CLOUD ALOFT JUST NORTH OF
INTERSTATE 70 BETWEEN ROUTES 38 AND 42.

RADAR INDICATED SCATTERED SHOWERS AND POSSIBLE THUNDERSTORMS IN THAT
AREA.

GENERALLY...FUNNEL CLOUDS OCCUR IN CONJUNCTION WITH WELL DEVELOPED AND
INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WHICH HAVE FORMED IN A WARM...MOIST AIR MASS.
THUNDERSTORMS OF THIS VARIETY AND INTENSITY NEARLY ALWAYS FORM ALONG
OR SOME DISTANCE AHEAD OF A STRONG COLD FRONT.
AN ENTIRELY DIFFERENT CONDITION PREVAILS OVER CENTRAL OHIO TODAY.
THERE ARE NO STRONG COLD FRONTS IN THE AREA.  THERE IS LITTLE OR NO
POTENTIAL FOR INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS AS THE AIR IS RELATIVELY COOL.

STUDIES OF COLD AIR FUNNEL CLOUDS S0HOW THAT THEY RARELY TOUCH THE
GROUND AND RARELY DO ANY DAMAGE.  THESE FUNNEL CLOUDS NORMALLY
PROTRUDE A FEW HUNDRED FEET DOWNWARD FROM THE PARENT CLOUD...ROTATE OR
SPIN LIKE A TOP...AND LAST A FEW MINUTES BEFORE DISSIPATING.

GROH
Special weather statement, Aug 20, 12:49 PM EDT, 1 hour 59 minutes before
OHZ008-INZ013-KYZ005-201900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CINCINNATI OH
1240 PM EDT TUE AUG 20 1989

COLD AIR FUNNEL CLOUDS ARE AGAIN POSSIBLE IN SOUTHWEST OHIO...
SOUTHEAST INDIANA AND NORTHERN KENTUCKY THIS AFTERNOON.

WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATES THAT SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS
ARE DEVELOPING OVER THE REGION. TEMPERATURES IN THE UPPER LEVELS OF
THE ATMOSPHERE ARE VERY COLD MUCH LIKE YESTERDAY...WHICH IS IDEAL FOR
FUNNEL CLOUD DEVELOPMENT.

THESE FUNNEL CLOUDS RARELY TOUCH DOWN. IF THEY REACH THE GROUND...THEY
WILL PRODUCE WINDS OF 40 TO 70 MILES AN HOUR. THAT IS MUCH WEAKER THAN
A NORMAL TORNANDO BUT WINDS THIS STRONG CAN CAUSE DAMAGE.

IF YOU SEE ONE OF THESE FUNNELS THIS AFTERNOON...DO NOT BE ALARMED.
HOWEVER...BE ALERT TO THE POSSIBILITY OF A BRIEF TOUCHDOWN.

PYTLAK

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Ohio, 1991Every tornado warning in 1991Tornadoes in 1991

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.