Alert archive / Indiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 1, NWS Northern Indiana

March 20, 2003LaPorte County, Indiana

NWS Northern Indiana issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 20, 2003, 11:10 AM CST for LaPorte County, Indiana. It was in force for 50 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Mar 20, 2003, 11:10 AM CST (17:10 UTC)
Expired: Mar 20, 2003, 12:00 PM CST
In force: 50 min
Issued by: NWS Northern Indiana
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County LaPorte County, IN

The radar

The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 93 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:10 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.

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 5.2 hours before the alert went out and 218 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1360 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 123 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 156 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

572 
WUUS53 KIWX 201710
SVRFWA
INC091-201800-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
1109 AM CST THU MAR 20 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTHERN INDIANA HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  LA PORTE COUNTY IN INDIANA

* UNTIL NOON CST

* AT 1109 AM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 17 MILES SOUTHWEST OF KINGSFORD HEIGHTS...
  MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ARE...
  KINGSFORD HEIGHTS
  KINGSBURY
  LA PORTE

SEEK SHELTER INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING AWAY FROM WINDOWS. SEVERE
STORMS CAN PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS AND DESTRUCTIVE HAIL.

1 INCH DIAMETER SIZE HAIL OR LARGER IS LIKELY WITH THIS SEVERE 
STORM SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY

REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY. THEY
WILL RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST
OFFICE IN NORTHERN INDIANA.

LAT...LON 4162 8690 4133 8690 4152 8654 4166 8668

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.

NWS Northern Indiana wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Mar 20, 8:12 AM CST, 2 hours 58 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 20, 8:12 AM CST, 2 hours 58 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
912 AM EST THU MAR 20 2003

18Z AVIATION DISCUSSION...
CURRENT TSTM W OF SBN MOVG N AND SHOULD NOT AFFECT 18Z TAFSBN.
OTRW...WILL TIME TSTMS IN MID AFTN DURING MAX HEATING TIME OF
DAY...NOT A WHOLE LOT OF IMPRESSIVE SUPPORT OTRW. AS SFC LOW PUSHES
THROUGH TONIGHT WITH WIDESPREAD RH AND GOOD LIFT WILL PUT PREVIALING
-SHRA IN BOTH TAFS FROM 09-15Z. WILL BRING VSBYS DOWN SOMEWHAT BUT
SHOULDNT GET AS LOW AS LAST COUPLE OF NIGHTS.

PREVIOUS DISUCCSION

SURFACE OBSERVATIONS INDICATE THAT DENSE FOG HAS LIFTED ACROSS ALL
BUT NORTHEASTERN QUARTER OF COUNTY WARNING AND FORECAST AREA.  WITH
INCREASING SOUTHERLY FLOW AND MIXING...WL ALLOW DENSE FOG ADVISORY
TO EXPIRE...BUT WILL KEEP A MENTION OF PATCHY DENSE FOG THROUGH LATE
MORNING IN THE NORTHEAST.

MODIFIED SOUNDINGS SUGGEST CAPES IN EXCESS OF 1500 J/KG THIS AFT...A
BIT HIGHER THAN PROGGED BY MESO ETA WHICH APPEARS TO BE TOO DRY
WITH LOW LEVEL MOISTURE.  CURRENT WIND FIELDS INDICATE VEERING
THROUGH 700 MB...THOUGH WIND FIELDS PROGGED TO BECOME MORE
UNIDIRECTIONAL THIS AFTERNOON.  WITH A WEB BULB ZERO AROUND 7K FT
AND COLD TEMPERATURES ALOFT...BELIEVE HAIL IS STILL PRIMARY SEVERE
WEATHER HAZARD.

BASED ON CURRENT TEMPERATURES AND SOME MORNING SUNSHINE...WILL BUMP
UP HIGH TEMPERATURES A BIT MOST LOCATIONS.

BARJENBRUCH

AVIATION DISCUSSION FOR 12Z TAFS
VWP SHOWING LOW LEVEL WINDS ABOVE INVERSION LAYER DECREASING IN
VELOCITY AND WILL NO LONGER MAKE MENTION LOW LEVEL WIND SHEAR.
SHORTWAVE TROUGH OVER SOUTHEAST MO WILL ALONG WITH STEEP MID LEVEL
LAPSE RATES DEVELOP TSRA AT SBN AND FWA LATER THIS AFTERNOON...TRIED
TO CHOOSE BEST 3 HOURS FOR EVENT. WITH LOW WET BULB ZERO SOME
CONCERN FOR HAIL BUT WITH SUCH AN ISOLATED AREA COVERED BY TERMINAL
FORECAST WILL NOT INCLUDE AT THIS TIME. FOG COULD BE A CONCERN LATER
TONIGHT AS WELL...FOR NOW JUST WENT WITH UPPER END IFR
VISIBILITIES. PBM

.IWX...
IN...NONE.
MI...NONE.
OH...NONE.

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 20, 4:36 AM CST, 6 hours 34 minutes before

INZ003>009-012>018-020-022>027-032>034-MIZ077>081-OHZ001-002-004-005-
015-016-024-025-211030-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
536 AM EST THU MAR 20 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHERN INDIANA...NORTHWEST
OHIO AND SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS
EVENING. HAIL UP TO ONE AND ONE HALF INCH IN DIAMETER IS POSSIBLE
WITH THE STRONGER STORMS. DAMAGING WINDS ARE ALSO
POSSIBLE...HOWEVER...THE GREATEST THREAT FROM STORMS IS LARGE HAIL.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY

THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE FRIDAY...LATE MONDAY AND TUESDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES, OR
CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/IWX

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 20, 11:53 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Marshall	37 min
Mar 20, 12:07 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Kosciusko, Noble, Whitley	38 min
Mar 20, 12:46 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Whitley	29 min
Mar 20, 1:04 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	LaGrange	41 min
Mar 20, 1:15 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Noble	45 min
Mar 20, 1:42 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Allen, Huntington, Whitley	48 min
Mar 20, 2:07 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	DeKalb, Noble, Steuben	53 min
Mar 20, 2:16 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Huntington	44 min
Mar 20, 2:32 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Allen	43 min
Mar 20, 2:42 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Wells	48 min
Mar 20, 3:06 PM CST	Tornado Warning	IWX	Wells	39 min
Mar 20, 3:15 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Steuben	60 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Indiana, 2003 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2003

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.