Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Watches in 2003
Tornado Watch 324
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 9, 2003, 6:05 PM CDT for 19 counties in Illinois; 36 counties in Indiana. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 9, 2003, 6:05 PM CDT (23:05 UTC)
- Expired
- May 9, 2003, 11:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 55 counties
Bond County, IL, Champaign County, IL, Christian County, IL, Clark County, IL, Clinton County, IL, Coles County, IL, Cumberland County, IL, Douglas County, IL, Edgar County, IL, Effingham County, IL, Fayette County, IL, Jasper County, IL, Macon County, IL, Montgomery County, IL, Moultrie County, IL, Piatt County, IL, Sangamon County, IL, Shelby County, IL, Vermilion County, IL, Adams County, IN, Allen County, IN, Benton County, IN, Blackford County, IN, Boone County, IN, Carroll County, IN, Cass County, IN, Clay County, IN, Clinton County, IN, DeKalb County, IN, Delaware County, IN, Fountain County, IN, Fulton County, IN, Grant County, IN, Hamilton County, IN, Hendricks County, IN, Howard County, IN, Huntington County, IN, Jay County, IN, Kosciusko County, IN, Madison County, IN, Marion County, IN, Miami County, IN, Montgomery County, IN, Noble County, IN, Parke County, IN, Putnam County, IN, Tippecanoe County, IN, Tipton County, IN, Vermillion County, IN, Vigo County, IN, Wabash County, IN, Warren County, IN, Wells County, IN, White County, IN, Whitley County, IN
The radar
The Indianapolis radar (KIND), 128 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:05 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.
Warnings issued inside it
19 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 9, 7:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILX | Cass, Menard, Morgan, Sangamon | 64 min |
| May 9, 8:01 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ILX | Sangamon | 29 min |
| May 9, 8:12 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LSX | Montgomery | 33 min |
| May 9, 8:22 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILX | Christian | 38 min |
| May 9, 8:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IWX | Fulton, Kosciusko | 48 min |
| May 9, 8:43 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LSX | Montgomery | 32 min |
| May 9, 8:47 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ILX | Christian | 43 min |
| May 9, 8:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IWX | Noble, Whitley | 47 min |
| May 9, 9:03 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | IWX | Kosciusko, Whitley | 42 min |
| May 9, 9:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILX | Jasper | 44 min |
| May 9, 9:32 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILX | Christian, Macon, Shelby | 43 min |
| May 9, 9:39 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | IWX | Whitley | 36 min |
| May 9, 9:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IWX | Kosciusko | 55 min |
| May 9, 9:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IWX | DeKalb | 54 min |
| May 9, 9:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IWX | Allen | 63 min |
| May 9, 10:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IWX | Noble | 52 min |
| May 9, 10:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILX | Clark | 34 min |
| May 9, 10:39 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IWX | DeKalb | 51 min |
| May 9, 10:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILX | Morgan, Sangamon | 49 min |
Discussions around it
SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.
The nearest sounding before it
Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 76 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
- 2615 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -51 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 727 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 53 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 348 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 389 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 5.6
- Supercell composite
- 21.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 092301
SEL4
SPC WW 092305
ILZ000-INZ000-100400-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 324
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
605 PM CDT FRI MAY 9 2003
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
CENTRAL ILLINOIS
NORTHERN AND CENTRAL INDIANA
EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY EVENING FROM 605 PM UNTIL 1100 PM CDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 50 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 20 MILES EAST OF FORT WAYNE INDIANA TO 50
MILES SOUTH OF SPRINGFIELD ILLINOIS.
REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.
OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 318...WW 319...WW 320...WW
321...WW 322...WW 323...
DISCUSSION...VERY UNSTABLE AIRMASS ACROSS CENTRAL IL INTO NRN IN.
BOUNDARIES ACROSS NERN IN AND WSWWD ACROSS CENTRAL IL WILL FOCUS
INITIATION. DEEP LAYER SHEAR AND INSTABILITY WILL SUPPORT
SUPERCELLS WITH ISOLATED TORNADOES ALONG WITH POTENTIALLY VERY LARGE
HAIL.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.
...HALES
401,0844 382,0894 395,0894 414,0844SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 7:06 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Hamilton, White | 54 min |
| May 8, 7:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Adams, Brown, Hancock, Henderson, Pike, Scott | 5 hr |
| May 8, 9:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Bureau, Carroll, Cass, Champaign, DeKalb, DeWitt and 32 more | 6 hr |
| May 8, 9:27 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Brown, Bureau, Carroll, Cass, Champaign and 40 more | 93 min |
| May 8, 11:50 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Brown, Hancock, Henderson, Pike, Scott | 55 min |
| May 9, 12:05 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Bond, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Champaign, Christian and 28 more | 6 hr |
| May 9, 2:02 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Edwards, Lawrence, Wabash, Wayne, White | 2 hr |
| May 9, 2:48 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clinton, Edwards, Franklin, Gallatin, Hamilton, Hardin and 15 more | 117 min |
| May 9, 4:17 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Bond, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Christian and 21 more | 28 min |
| May 9, 4:45 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Calhoun, Greene, Morgan, Pike, Scott | 6 hr |
| May 9, 5:44 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Champaign, Christian, Clark, Coles, Cumberland, DeWitt and 15 more | 31 min |
| May 9, 1:21 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Allen, Bartholomew, Blackford, Boone, Brown and 51 more | 84 min |
| May 9, 1:45 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Adams, Allen, Blackford, Boone, Carroll, Cass and 34 more | 5 hr |
| May 9, 5:04 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Allen, Blackford, Boone, Carroll, Cass and 34 more | 86 min |
| May 9, 2:40 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Bartholomew, Brown, Clark, Crawford, Daviess, Dearborn and 22 more | 5 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Indiana, 2003Tornado Watches in Illinois, 2003Every tornado watch 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.