Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Louisville, KY

April 20, 1996Floyd County, Indiana

NWS Louisville, KY issued this tornado warning at Apr 20, 1996, 2:04 AM EDT for Floyd County, Indiana. It was in force for 26 min. 3 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: Apr 20, 1996, 2:04 AM EDT (06:04 UTC)
Expired: Apr 20, 1996, 2:30 AM EDT
In force: 26 min
Issued by: NWS Louisville, KY
Area: Whole counties

County Floyd County, IN

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where
Apr 20, 2:08 AM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 60	Floyds Knobs, IN
Apr 20, 2:08 AM EDT	Tornado F2	Greenville, IN
Apr 20, 2:08 AM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52	Greenville, 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, 6.1 hours before the alert went out and 220 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: 1144 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 991 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 117 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 276 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.1
Supercell composite: 4.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSDF 200605
TORSDF
INC043-200630-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
204 AM EDT SAT APR 20 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LOUISVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  230 AM EDT
FOR PERSONS IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH INDIANA
 
   ...FLOYD COUNTY
 
AT 2 AM EDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 15 MILES
NORTHWEST OF LOUISVILLE NEAR THE HARRISON AND FLOYD COUNTY INDIANA LINE.
 
THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT 40 MPH AND WILL REACH FLOYDS KNOBS
BY 215 AM EDT.
 
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 ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
 
RNK

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, Apr 19, 11:12 PM EDT, 2 hours 52 minutes before

INZ090>092-KYZ001>100-104-106>120-200900-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR KENTUCKY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
1100 PM EDT FRI APR 19 1996

...SIGNIFICANT OUTBREAK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOES
EXPECTED ACROSS WEST AND CENTRAL KENTUCKY...

A STRONG LOW PRESSURE STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE FROM THE UPPER
MISSISSIPPI VALLEY TO THE GREAT LAKES BY SATURDAY MORNING.
AT THE SAME TIME...A COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP EASTWARD ACROSS
THE OHIO VALLEY.  AHEAD OF THE FRONT...WARM...MOIST...VERY UNSTABLE
AIR...AND STRONG WIND FIELDS IN THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BE IN PLACE ACROSS
WESTERN AND NORTHERN KENTUCKY AS WELL AS MUCH OF ILLINOIS AND INDIANA.
AS THE FRONT MOVED INTO THIS AREA...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED THIS EVENING
ACROSS MISSOURI...ILLINOIS...AND INDIANA.
>
GIVEN THE STRENGTH OF THE STORM SYSTEM AND EXPECTED INSTABILITY...
SOME THUNDERSTORMS WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE VERY LARGE
HAIL...DAMAGING SURFACE WINDS...AND TORNADOES.

STAY :TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON THIS
POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS WEATHER SITUATION. SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION
IS REQUESTED IN THOSE AREAS COVERED BY TORNADO WATCHES.

RNK

Local storm report, Apr 20, 1:45 AM EDT, 19 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
145 AM EDT SAT APR 20 1996

TIME EDT   .....CITY LOCATION.....    STATE    ...EVENT...
 DATE      ....COUNTY LOCATION....            ...REMARKS...

...FOR STORMS THAT OCCURRED SATURDAY EVENING JULY 22ND...

115 AM EDT    5 EAST CAMPBELLSBURG     IN       GOLFBALL TO BASEBALL
              WASHINGTON                        SIZE HAIL REPORTED
                                                BY THE COUNTY DISPATCH

The office that day

Everything else NWS Louisville, KY issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 20, 12:21 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Dubois	54 min
Apr 20, 12:38 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Orange	52 min
Apr 20, 12:51 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	LMK	Orange	39 min
Apr 20, 1:02 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Washington	43 min
Apr 20, 1:17 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	LMK	Perry	43 min
Apr 20, 1:30 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Crawford, Orange	45 min
Apr 20, 1:40 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Harrison	50 min
Apr 20, 1:41 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Scott	34 min
Apr 20, 1:51 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Washington	24 min
Apr 20, 1:58 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Jefferson	47 min
Apr 20, 2:14 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	LMK	Clark	31 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.