Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Warnings in 2002
Tornado Warning 15, NWS Indianapolis, IN
NWS Indianapolis, IN issued this tornado warning at Sep 20, 2002, 1:46 PM EST for Hancock County, Indiana. It was in force for 44 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
- Sep 20, 2002, 1:46 PM EST (18:46 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 20, 2002, 2:30 PM EST
- In force
- 44 min
- Issued by
- NWS Indianapolis, IN
- Area
- Whole counties
- Emergency
- Tornado emergency
County Hancock County, IN
The radar
The Indianapolis radar (KIND), 45 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:46 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 20, 2:03 PM EST | Tornado F0 | Mc Cordsville, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 20, 12:35 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 12:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 175 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 339 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -46 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 850 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 39 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 153 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 179 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.3
- Supercell composite
- 1.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
929 WFUS53 KIND 201846 TORIND INC059-201930- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 146 PM EST FRI SEP 20 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN INDIANAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... HANCOCK COUNTY IN CENTRAL INDIANA * UNTIL 230 PM EST * AT 140 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 14 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CUMBERLAND...OR ABOUT 9 MILES SOUTH OF INDIANAPOLIS... MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. * THE MOST DANGEROUS PART OF THE STORM IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR... CUMBERLAND AT 215 PM EST SPRING LAKE AT 225 PM EST MCCORDSVILLE AT 230 PM EST THIS IS A LIFE THREATENING TORNADO EMERGENCY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS LARGE AND DESTRUCTIVE TORNADO...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...GO TO THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM. GET UNDER STURDY FURNITURE OR USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY. IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Indianapolis, IN issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 19, 7:35 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IND | Clay, Sullivan, Vigo | 25 min |
| Sep 20, 11:28 AM EST | Tornado Warning | IND | Knox | 32 min |
| Sep 20, 11:39 AM EST | Tornado Warning | IND | Daviess | 51 min |
| Sep 20, 11:50 AM EST | Tornado Warning | IND | Daviess, Greene, Knox | 25 min |
| Sep 20, 12:14 PM EST | Tornado Warning | IND | Greene, Owen | 46 min |
| Sep 20, 12:15 PM EST | Tornado Warning | IND | Daviess, Greene | 30 min |
| Sep 20, 12:39 PM EST | Tornado Warning | IND | Greene, Monroe, Owen | 36 min |
| Sep 20, 12:42 PM EST | Tornado Warning | IND | Morgan, Owen | 33 min |
| Sep 20, 1:04 PM EST | Tornado Warning | IND | Morgan | 41 min |
| Sep 20, 1:08 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IND | Hendricks | 37 min |
| Sep 20, 1:22 PM EST | Tornado Warning | IND | Johnson, Marion | 38 min |
| Sep 20, 1:53 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IND | Jackson, Lawrence | 37 min |
| Sep 20, 1:58 PM EST | Tornado Warning | IND | Marion | 17 min |
| Sep 20, 2:06 PM EST | Tornado Warning | IND | Madison | 54 min |
| Sep 20, 2:07 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IND | Hamilton | 23 min |
| Sep 20, 2:09 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IND | Bartholomew, Brown | 66 min |
| Sep 20, 2:44 PM EST | Tornado Warning | IND | Delaware | 46 min |
| Sep 20, 3:02 PM EST | Tornado Warning | IND | Rush | 28 min |
| Sep 20, 3:03 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IND | Decatur, Jennings | 42 min |
| Sep 20, 3:19 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IND | Randolph | 41 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Indiana, 2002Every tornado warning in 2002Tornadoes in 2002
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.