Alert archive / Indiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 90, NWS Louisville, KY

April 30, 1997Crawford County, Orange County, Indiana

NWS Louisville, KY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 30, 1997, 8:17 PM EST for Crawford County, Orange County, Indiana. It was in force for 43 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
Apr 30, 1997, 8:17 PM EST (01:17 UTC)
Expired
Apr 30, 1997, 9:00 PM EST
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Louisville, KY
Area
Whole counties

Counties Crawford County, IN, Orange County, IN

The radar

The Louisville radar (KLVX), 67 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:17 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
Apr 30, 8:25 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 50Paoli, IN
Apr 30, 8:25 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 50French Lick, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 30, 5:30 PM ESTTornado WatchSPC6 hr
Apr 30, 6:30 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 255 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1997-05-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 70 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1997-05-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 308 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
70 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-236 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1685 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
308 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
433 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSDF 010116 RRA
SVRSDF
INC025-117-010200-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
917 PM EDT WED APR 30 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LOUISVILLE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 PM EDT
FOR PERSONS IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTH INDIANA
 
   ...CRAWFORD COUNTY...ORANGE COUNTY
 
DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL ARE LIKELY.
 
AT 910 PM EDT/810 PM EST...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS 40 TO 45 MILES WEST OF LOUISVILLE ACROSS
EASTERN DUBOIS AND CENTRAL SPENCER COUNTIES IN SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA.
THE STORMS ARE MOVING EAST AT 40 TO 50 MPH AND WILL REACH THE CITY OF
PAOLI BY 925 PM EDT/825 PM EST...AND ENGLISH BY 935 PM EDT/835 PM EST.
 
THESE ARE DANGEROUS STORMS.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH...MOVE TO
SHELTER...PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING.  ONCE INSIDE...
STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. DO NOT GO NEAR DOWNED POWER LI,NES.
 
FUNK

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, Apr 30, 5:35 PM EST, 2 hours 42 minutes before
INZ076>079-083-010400-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
635 PM EDT WED APR 30 1997

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN AFFECT FOR PARTS OF SOUTHERN INDIANA UNTIL
12 MIDNIGHT EDT...
A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNITES OF
SOUTHERN INDIANA...DUBOIS...ORANGE...WASHINGTON...SCOTT...AND
JEFFERSON. STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING RAPIDLY
ACROSS SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...AND THE POTENTIAL FOR SOME OF THESE
STORMS TO PRODUCE ISOLATED TORNADOES DOES EXIST THIS EVENING.
YOU SHOULD MONITOR THE WEATHER IS EVENING.

MCT

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 30, 7:58 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKDubois32 min
Apr 30, 8:25 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKPerry35 min
Apr 30, 8:39 PM ESTTornado WarningLMKCrawford, Perry21 min
Apr 30, 8:57 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKHarrison, Washington33 min
Apr 30, 9:02 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKClark, Floyd43 min
Apr 30, 9:32 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKJefferson28 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Indiana, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.