Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 14, NWS Indianapolis, IN

May 3, 1996Greene County, Indiana

NWS Indianapolis, IN issued this tornado warning at May 3, 1996, 8:38 PM EST for Greene County, Indiana. It was in force for 37 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, 8:38 PM EST (01:38 UTC)
Expired: May 3, 1996, 9:15 PM EST
In force: 37 min
Issued by: NWS Indianapolis, IN
Area: Whole counties

County Greene County, IN

The radar

The Indianapolis radar (KIND), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:40 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 3, 8:55 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind	Bloomington, 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, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 187 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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 040138
TORIND
INC055-040215-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
838 PM EST FRI MAY 3 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN INDIANAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  915 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST INDIANA
 
   ...GREENE COUNTY
 
AT 835 PM EST...RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 10 MILES SOUTH OF
BLOOMFIELD AND WAS MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH. SOME CITIES IN THE PATH OF
THIS STORM ARE PARK...TANNER AND CINCINNATI.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR RTOOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
EDDY

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 3, 6:50 PM EST, 1 hour 48 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, 5 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 3, 9:01 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Lawrence	44 min
May 3, 9:10 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Jackson	50 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Indiana, 1996 Every tornado warning in 1996 Tornadoes 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.