Alert archive / Indiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 46, NWS Indianapolis, IN

May 8, 1996Clay County, Sullivan County, Indiana

NWS Indianapolis, IN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 8, 1996, 2:17 PM EST for Clay County, Sullivan County, Indiana. It was in force for 58 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 8, 1996, 2:17 PM EST (19:17 UTC)
Expired
May 8, 1996, 3:15 PM EST
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Indianapolis, IN
Area
Whole counties

Counties Clay County, IN, Sullivan County, IN

The radar

The Indianapolis radar (KIND), 99 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:19 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 8, 2:38 PM ESTTornado F1Brazil, 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 12:00Z, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 299 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 12:00Z on 1996-05-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 89 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 12:00Z on 1996-05-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 3 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
89 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-15 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
611 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
22 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 081918
SVRIND
INC153-021-082015-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
217 PM EST WED MAY 8 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN INDIANAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  315 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST INDIANA
 
   ...SULLIVAN COUNTY
 
IN WEST CENTRAL INDIANA
 
   ...CLAY COUNTY
 
AT 215 PM EST...A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING ACROSS WEST CENTRAL
INDIANA. RADAR INDICATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITHIN THE LINE. SOME
CITIES IN THE PATH OF THE SEVERE STORMS ARE SULLIVAN AND BRAZIL.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING 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.
 
CONLEY

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 8, 1:38 PM EST, 39 minutes before
INZ043>045-051>054-060>064-067>073-075>089-090100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
138 PM EST WED MAY 8 1996

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 8 PM EST...

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR PARTS OF WEST CENTRAL
AND SOUTHERN INDIANA UNTIL 8 PM EST. THE WATCH INCLUDES THAT PART OF
INDIANA SOUTH OF A LINE FROM COVINGTON TO MOORESVILLE TO 10 MILES
NORTH OF COLUMBUS TO LAWRENCEBURG.

SOME CITIES IN THE WATCH AREA ARE TERRE HAUTE...BEDFORD...
BLOOMINGTON...COLUMBUS AND NORTH VERNON.

AT 130 PM EST...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER EASTERN ILLINOIS AND
MOVING TO THE EAST AT 30 MPH. THESE STORMS PRODUCED DAMAGING WINDS IN
CENTRAL ILLINOIS DURING THE PAST HOUR.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS SEVERE WEATHER CAN OCCUR IN AND
NEAR THE WATCH AREA. IF YOU ARE IN THE WATCH AREA...KEEP TABS ON THE
WEATHER SITUATION BY LISTENING TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL TV OR
RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

CONLEY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 8, 5:16 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningINDGreene, Knox, Sullivan3 hr
May 8, 5:16 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningINDDaviess, Martin3 hr
May 8, 8:22 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningINDDaviess, Greene, Knox, Martin4 hr
May 8, 8:22 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningINDSullivan4 hr
May 8, 1:47 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDParke, Vermillion58 min
May 8, 2:03 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDVigo57 min
May 8, 2:31 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDOwen, Putnam59 min
May 8, 2:47 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDGreene58 min
May 8, 2:59 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDMorgan61 min
May 8, 3:06 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDMonroe69 min
May 8, 3:11 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDKnox64 min
May 8, 3:15 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDDaviess60 min
May 8, 3:38 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningINDLawrence67 min
May 8, 3:47 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningINDBartholomew, Jackson58 min
May 8, 3:47 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDBartholomew, Jackson58 min
May 8, 3:55 PM ESTTornado WarningINDLawrence35 min
May 8, 4:03 PM ESTTornado WarningINDJennings27 min
May 8, 4:47 PM ESTTornado WarningINDHenry, Rush28 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.