Alert archive / Indiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 38, NWS Indianapolis, IN

May 3, 1996Lawrence County, Indiana

NWS Indianapolis, IN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 3, 1996, 9:01 PM EST for Lawrence County, Indiana. It was in force for 44 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 3, 1996, 9:01 PM EST (02:01 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 1996, 9:45 PM EST
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Indianapolis, IN
Area
Whole counties

County Lawrence County, IN

The radar

The Indianapolis radar (KIND), 98 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:00 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 3, 9:18 PM ESTThunderstorm WindBedford, 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 00:00Z, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 233 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, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 1996-05-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 1996-05-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 34 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2428 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
34 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
363 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 KIND 040202
SVRIND
INC093-040245-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
901 PM EST FRI MAY 3 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN INDIANAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA
 
   ...LAWRENCE COUNTY
 
AT 9 PM EST...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 10 MILES WEST OF
BEDFORD. THIS STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH. SOME CITIES IN THE PATH
OF THIS STORM ARE BEDFORD AND FAYETTEVILLE.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
 
EDDY

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 3, 6:50 PM EST, 2 hours 11 minutes before
INZ001>092-040600-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
650 PM EST FRI MAY 3 1996

IN INDIANA...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 100 AM EST
AND INCLUDES THAT PART OF INDIANA SOUTH OF A LINE FROM TERRE HAUTE TO
30 MILES NORTHWEST OF CINCINNATI OHIO.

SOME CITIES INCLUDED ARE TERRE HAUTE...BLOOMINGTON...COLUMBUS...
VINCENNES...BEDFORD...SEYMOUR...MADISON...JASPER AND EVANSVILLE.

REMEMBER...A WATCH MEANS 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.

ZIMMERMAN
Special weather statement, May 3, 8:33 PM EST, 28 minutes before
INZ051>053-060>089-040600-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
833 PM EST FRI MAY 3 1996

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CONTINUES UNTIL 1 AM EST FOR SOUTHERN
INDIANA...

AT 830 PM EST...AN AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS STRETCHED FROM NEAR
INDIANAPOLIS TO JUST NORTH OF EVANSVILLE. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING
EAST AT AROUND 35 MPH.

SOME OF THESE STORMS WERE PRODUCING SEVERE WEATHER...AND THE
ATMOSPHERE CONTINUES TO BE CONDUCDIVE TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
DEVELOPMENT IN AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA IS SOUTH OF A LINE FROM TERRE
HAUTE TO 30 MILES NORTHWEST OF CINCINNATI OHIO.

EDDY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 3, 8:38 PM ESTTornado WarningINDGreene37 min
May 3, 9:10 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDJackson50 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Indiana, 1996Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1996

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.