Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Northern Indiana

May 9, 2003Whitley County, Indiana

NWS Northern Indiana issued this tornado warning at May 9, 2003, 9:39 PM EST for Whitley County, Indiana. It was in force for 36 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: May 9, 2003, 9:39 PM EST (02:39 UTC)
Expired: May 9, 2003, 10:15 PM EST
In force: 36 min
Issued by: NWS Northern Indiana
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Whitley County, IN

The radar

The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 29 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:42 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 9, 6:05 PM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 00:00Z, 2.7 hours before the alert went out and 239 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: 3057 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -17 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 739 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 68 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 134 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.3
Supercell composite: 6.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

491 
WFUS53 KIWX 100239
TORIWX
INC183-100315-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
937 PM EST FRI MAY 9 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTHERN INDIANA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WHITLEY COUNTY IN INDIANA

* UNTIL 1015 PM EST

* AT 937 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION 3 MILES NORTHEAST OF SOUTH
  WHITLEY...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE...
  COLUMBIA CITY
  COESSE

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. ANY TORNADO MAY BE WRAPPED IN 
HEAVY RAINFALL...MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO SEE. GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL WAS 
REPORTED IN COLUMBIA CITY WITH THIS STORM AS WELL.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. IF NO
BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

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 4120 8565 4102 8566 4101 8534 4121 8536

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 9, 8:27 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Fulton, Kosciusko	48 min
May 9, 8:58 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Noble, Whitley	47 min
May 9, 9:03 PM EST	Tornado Warning	IWX	Kosciusko, Whitley	42 min
May 9, 9:41 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	LaGrange, Steuben	49 min
May 9, 9:43 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Marshall, Starke	62 min
May 9, 9:50 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Kosciusko	55 min
May 9, 9:51 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	DeKalb	54 min
May 9, 9:53 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	LaPorte	67 min
May 9, 9:57 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Allen	63 min
May 9, 10:08 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Noble	52 min
May 9, 10:23 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Saint Joseph	67 min
May 9, 10:30 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Elkhart	60 min
May 9, 10:39 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	DeKalb	51 min
May 9, 11:00 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	LaPorte	60 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.