Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Northern Indiana

September 20, 2002Blackford County, Grant County, Indiana

NWS Northern Indiana issued this tornado warning at Sep 20, 2002, 2:49 PM EST for Blackford County, Grant County, Indiana. It was in force for 56 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
Sep 20, 2002, 2:49 PM EST (19:49 UTC)
Expired
Sep 20, 2002, 3:45 PM EST
In force
56 min
Issued by
NWS Northern Indiana
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Blackford County, IN, Grant County, IN

The radar

The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 98 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:50 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
Sep 20, 3:10 PM ESTTornado F1Hartford City, INNWS officials reported the tornado touched down and lifted numerous times along the path. This tornado was produced by the same parent supercell that produced several tornadoes in the Indianapolis WFO CWA. Most of the damage occurred as it passed through Hartf
Sep 20, 3:35 PM ESTThunderstorm WindMontpelier, INNewspaper reported a large tree was uprooted.

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
Sep 20, 12:35 PM ESTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 12:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 186 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 12:00Z on 2002-09-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 339 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 12:00Z on 2002-09-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 153 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The office that day

Everything else NWS Northern Indiana issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 20, 3:27 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXJay33 min
Sep 20, 3:31 PM ESTTornado WarningIWXAdams, Wells44 min
Sep 20, 3:14 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXAllen, Putnam46 min
Sep 20, 3:59 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXVan Wert46 min
Sep 20, 3:59 PM ESTTornado WarningIWXPutnam31 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.