Alert archive / Indiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 39, NWS Indianapolis, IN

May 3, 1996Jackson County, Indiana

NWS Indianapolis, IN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 3, 1996, 9:10 PM EST for Jackson County, Indiana. It was in force for 50 min. 2 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 3, 1996, 9:10 PM EST (02:10 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 1996, 10:00 PM EST
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Indianapolis, IN
Area
Whole counties

County Jackson County, IN

The radar

The Indianapolis radar (KIND), 92 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:10 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, 9:35 PM ESTThunderstorm WindSeymour, IN
May 3, 9:45 PM ESTThunderstorm WindSeymour, 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

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 00:00Z, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 201 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 1996-05-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 298 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 1996-05-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 64 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
298 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-26 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1273 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
143 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KIND 040220 COR
SVRIND
INC071-040300-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING...CORRECTED STORM LOCATION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
910 PM EST FRI MAY 3 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN INDIANAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA

   ...JACKSON COUNTY

AT 910 PM EST...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ABOUT 5 MILES WEST
OF MEDORA...OR 20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SEYMOUR. THIS STORM WAS MOVING EAST
AT 30 MPH. SOME CITIES IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE MEDORA AND
BROWNSTOWN.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAM^AGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

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 20 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, 37 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, 9:01 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDLawrence44 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.