Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Indianapolis, IN

March 28, 1997Decatur County, Indiana

NWS Indianapolis, IN issued this tornado warning at Mar 28, 1997, 8:53 PM EST for Decatur County, Indiana. It was in force for 52 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: Mar 28, 1997, 8:53 PM EST (01:53 UTC)
Expired: Mar 28, 1997, 9:45 PM EST
In force: 52 min
Issued by: NWS Indianapolis, IN
Area: Whole counties

County Decatur County, IN

The radar

The Indianapolis radar (KIND), 80 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:52 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, 8:55 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind	Westport, 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, 6:00 PM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 00:00Z, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 147 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: 275 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -85 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 623 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 61 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 282 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 290 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
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 290158 RRA
TORIND
INC031-290245-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
853 PM EST FRI MAR 28 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN INDIANAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST INDIANA
 
   ...DECATUR COUNTY
 
AT 855 PM...RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 15 MILES EAST OF COLUMBUS
NEAR WESTPORT. AT 851 PM...AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS REPORTED WINDS IN
EXCESS OF 60 MPH WITH TREES DOWN IN SARDINIA...JUST SOUTHWEST OF
WESTPORT.
 
THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH AND WILL MOVE INTO GREENSBURG BEFORE
915 PM.
 
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.
 
EDDY
&

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 28, 7:07 PM EST	Tornado Warning	IND	Hancock	68 min
Mar 28, 7:21 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Johnson	54 min
Mar 28, 7:26 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Daviess	49 min
Mar 28, 7:30 PM EST	Tornado Warning	IND	Henry	60 min
Mar 28, 7:40 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Martin	35 min
Mar 28, 7:56 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Shelby	34 min
Mar 28, 8:02 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Hancock	58 min
Mar 28, 8:09 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Carroll	36 min
Mar 28, 8:26 PM EST	Tornado Warning	IND	Rush	49 min
Mar 28, 8:27 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Cass, Miami	48 min
Mar 28, 8:42 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Jennings	48 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.