Alert archive / Indiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1999

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 57, NWS Indianapolis, IN

May 17, 1999Randolph County, Indiana

NWS Indianapolis, IN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 17, 1999, 8:17 PM EST for Randolph County, Indiana. It was in force for 43 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 17, 1999, 8:17 PM EST (01:17 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 1999, 9:00 PM EST
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Indianapolis, IN
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Randolph County, IN

The radar

The Indianapolis radar (KIND), 119 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
May 17, 8:35 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 50Farmland, 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, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 131 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 1999-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 572 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 1999-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 51 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
572 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-88 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1617 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
51 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
111 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, May 17, 8:00 PM EST, 17 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Special weather statement, May 17, 8:00 PM EST, 17 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Local storm report, May 17, 8:03 PM EST, 14 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
803 PM EST MON MAY 17 1999

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0735 PM    FAIRLAND                  IN    WIND DAMAGE
05/17/99   SHELBY                          SEVERAL TREES DOWN.
                                           REPORTED BY AMATEUR
                                           RADIO.
Local storm report, May 17, 8:03 PM EST, 14 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
803 PM EST MON MAY 17 1999

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0735 PM    FAIRLAND                  IN    WIND DAMAGE
05/17/99   SHELBY                          SEVERAL TREES DOWN.
                                           REPORTED BY AMATEUR
                                           RADIO.
Local storm report, May 17, 8:09 PM EST, 8 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
809 PM EST MON MAY 17 1999

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0805 PM    LEWISVILLE                IN    TORNADO
05/17/99   HENRY                           BARNS
                                           DAMAGED...REPORTED BY
                                           AMATEUR RADIO.
Local storm report, May 17, 8:09 PM EST, 8 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
809 PM EST MON MAY 17 1999

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0805 PM    LEWISVILLE                IN    TORNADO
05/17/99   HENRY                           BARNS
                                           DAMAGED...REPORTED BY
                                           AMATEUR RADIO.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 7:09 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDRandolph51 min
May 17, 7:12 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDDecatur, Shelby48 min
May 17, 7:12 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDJennings48 min
May 17, 7:15 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDHendricks, Marion45 min
May 17, 7:18 PM ESTTornado WarningINDShelby27 min
May 17, 7:38 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDRush52 min
May 17, 7:44 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDBoone, Hamilton46 min
May 17, 7:51 PM ESTTornado WarningINDRush24 min
May 17, 7:58 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDHenry32 min
May 17, 8:06 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDMadison, Tipton39 min
May 17, 8:08 PM ESTTornado WarningINDHenry37 min
May 17, 8:26 PM ESTTornado WarningINDRandolph34 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Indiana, 1999Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1999

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.