Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 18, NWS Northern Indiana

August 3, 2003Elkhart County, Indiana

NWS Northern Indiana issued this tornado warning at Aug 3, 2003, 5:47 PM EST for Elkhart County, Indiana. It was in force for 43 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: Aug 3, 2003, 5:47 PM EST (22:47 UTC)
Expired: Aug 3, 2003, 6:30 PM EST
In force: 43 min
Issued by: NWS Northern Indiana
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Elkhart County, IN

The radar

The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 28 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:48 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Detroit, MI (KDTX), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 234 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: 162 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -32 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 889 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 17 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 49 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.

542 
WFUS53 KIWX 032247
TORIWX
INC039-032330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
545 PM EST SUN AUG 3 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTHERN INDIANA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  ELKHART COUNTY IN INDIANA

* UNTIL 630 PM EST

* AT 545 PM EST...NUMEROUS FUNNEL CLOUDS HAVE BEEN REPORTED BY  
WEATHER SPOTTERS OVER EASTERN SAINT JOSEPH COUNTY INDIANA.  RADAR 
INDICATED A SEVERE STORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 2 MILES SOUTHWEST OF 
WAKARUSA...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE...
  ELKHART
  DUNLAP
  GOSHEN
  NEW PARIS
  MILLERSBURG
  MIDDLEBURY

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM...TAKE COVER IN A BASEMENT OR
INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. VEHICLES AND MOBILE HOMES SHOULD
BE ABANDONED FOR A SAFER SHELTER.

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 4172 8566 4148 8565 4145 8584 4144 8608
          4173 8608

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 3, 1:12 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	LaPorte	63 min
Aug 3, 5:14 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Marshall	46 min
Aug 3, 5:24 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Saint Joseph	51 min
Aug 3, 5:30 PM EST	Tornado Warning	IWX	Saint Joseph	30 min
Aug 3, 6:24 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Noble	66 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Indiana, 2003 Every tornado warning in 2003 Tornadoes 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.