Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Warnings in 1991

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Indianapolis, IN

May 31, 1991Saint Joseph County, Indiana

NWS Indianapolis, IN issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1991, 5:16 PM EST for Saint Joseph County, Indiana. 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
May 31, 1991, 5:16 PM EST (22:16 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1991, 5:45 PM EST
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Indianapolis, IN
Area
Whole counties

County Saint Joseph County, IN

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 31, 5:30 PM ESTTornado F0St. 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 12:00Z, 10.3 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 12:00Z on 1991-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 281 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 1991-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 43 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
281 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-24 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
665 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
43 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
77 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSBN 312224 COR
TORSBN
INC141-312245-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SOUTH BEND IN
516 PM EST FRI MAY 31 1991

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 545 PM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE NORTH CENTRAL PART OF INDIANA
      ST JOSEPH IN

AT 510 PM EST...THE WEATHER SERVICE HAS SPOTTED A FUNNEL CLOUD
4 MILES SOUTHEAST OF THE AIRPORT.

MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST 25 MILES AN HOUR. TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM
ARE SOUTH BEND AND MISHAWAKA.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...YOU SHOULD GO TO A BASEMENT
SHELTER OR IN MOST BUILDINGS WITHOUT A BASEMENT THE SAFEST PLACE IS
IN A SMALL ROOM IN THE CENTER OF THE BUILDING ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.

REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO YOUR NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY AND ASK
THEM TO RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

CORRECTION FOR DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT
WHEELER

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, May 31, 3:30 PM EST, 1 hour 46 minutes before
INZALL-010300-

 AREAL OUTLINE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 449
 NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
 330  PM EST FRI MAY 31 1991

 IN INDIANA SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 449 IS IN EFFECT
 UNTIL 1000 PM EST AND INCLUDES THAT PART OF INDIANA...
 NORTH OF A LINE FROM 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF VALPARAISO IN PORTER COUNTY
 TO ANGOLA IN STEUBEN COUNTY.

 SOME CITIES INCLUDED ARE... SOUTH BEND...LAGRANGE...LA PORTE AND
 GOSHEN.

 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
May 31, 4:16 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDLaPorte44 min
May 31, 5:59 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDLaPorte31 min
May 31, 6:40 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDLaPorte, Starke50 min
May 31, 6:42 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningINDSaint Joseph2 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Indiana, 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.