Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Indianapolis, IN

March 28, 1997Clay County, Vigo County, Indiana

NWS Indianapolis, IN issued this tornado warning at Mar 28, 1997, 6:27 PM EST for Clay County, Vigo County, Indiana. It was in force for 63 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: Mar 28, 1997, 6:27 PM EST (23:27 UTC)
Expired: Mar 28, 1997, 7:30 PM EST
In force: 63 min
Issued by: NWS Indianapolis, IN
Area: Whole counties

Counties Clay County, IN, Vigo County, IN

The radar

The Indianapolis radar (KIND), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:31 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
Mar 28, 7:05 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind	Terre Haute, IN
Mar 28, 7:30 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind	Terre Haute, 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Mar 28, 3:15 PM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr
Mar 28, 6:00 PM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 141 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: 127 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -142 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 815 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 207 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 211 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KIND 282330 RRA
TORIND
INC021-167-290030-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
627 PM EST FRI MAR 28 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN INDIANAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL INDIANA
 
   ...CLAY COUNTY...SOUTHEASTERN VIGO COUNTY
 
A TORNADO WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE SOUTHEAST QUARTER OF VIGO
COUNTY AND FOR ALL OF CLAY COUNTY UNTIL 730 PM EST. A WALL CLOUD WAS
OBSERVED BY AN AMATEUR RADIO OPERATOR NEAR PIMENTO IN SOUTHERN VIGO
COUNTY.
 
THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH AND WILL BE NEAR ASHBORO BY
715 PM EST.
 
LARGE HAIL AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE PROBABLE WITH THIS STORM.
 
 
 
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.
 
 
BPRUITT
&

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 28, 5:03 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Putnam	42 min
Mar 28, 5:22 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Hendricks	53 min
Mar 28, 5:32 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Vigo	43 min
Mar 28, 5:49 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Marion	56 min
Mar 28, 6:06 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Greene	69 min
Mar 28, 6:14 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Clay, Vigo	61 min
Mar 28, 6:28 PM EST	Tornado Warning	IND	Marion	32 min
Mar 28, 6:40 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Monroe	65 min
Mar 28, 6:45 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Brown, Monroe	60 min
Mar 28, 6:50 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Hancock	55 min
Mar 28, 6:51 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Knox	69 min
Mar 28, 6:54 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Tipton	51 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Indiana, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes in 1997

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.