Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Watches in 2004
Tornado Watch 260
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 23, 2004, 10:45 AM CDT for 25 counties in Illinois; 41 counties in Indiana; 11 counties in Kentucky. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 23, 2004, 10:45 AM CDT (15:45 UTC)
- Expired
- May 23, 2004, 4:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 77 counties
Clark County, IL, Clay County, IL, Coles County, IL, Crawford County, IL, Cumberland County, IL, Edgar County, IL, Edwards County, IL, Effingham County, IL, Fayette County, IL, Franklin County, IL, Gallatin County, IL, Hamilton County, IL, Hardin County, IL, Jasper County, IL, Jefferson County, IL, Johnson County, IL, Lawrence County, IL, Marion County, IL, Richland County, IL, Saline County, IL, Shelby County, IL, Wabash County, IL, Wayne County, IL, White County, IL, Williamson County, IL, Bartholomew County, IN, Brown County, IN, Clark County, IN, Clay County, IN, Crawford County, IN, Daviess County, IN, Decatur County, IN, Dubois County, IN, Floyd County, IN, Gibson County, IN, Greene County, IN, Hancock County, IN, Harrison County, IN, Hendricks County, IN, Henry County, IN, Jackson County, IN, Jefferson County, IN, Jennings County, IN, Johnson County, IN, Knox County, IN, Lawrence County, IN, Marion County, IN, Martin County, IN, Monroe County, IN, Morgan County, IN, Orange County, IN, Owen County, IN, Parke County, IN, Perry County, IN, Pike County, IN, Posey County, IN, Putnam County, IN, Rush County, IN, Scott County, IN, Shelby County, IN, Spencer County, IN, Sullivan County, IN, Vanderburgh County, IN, Vigo County, IN, Warrick County, IN, Washington County, IN, Breckinridge County, KY, Bullitt County, KY, Daviess County, KY, Hancock County, KY, Henderson County, KY, Jefferson County, KY, Meade County, KY, Oldham County, KY, Spencer County, KY, Trimble County, KY, Union County, KY
Warnings issued inside it
10 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 23, 11:18 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PAH | Jefferson | 42 min |
| May 23, 11:52 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILX | Clay, Effingham, Jasper | 38 min |
| May 23, 11:54 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PAH | Wayne | 36 min |
| May 23, 12:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILX | Cumberland | 40 min |
| May 23, 12:21 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PAH | White | 39 min |
| May 23, 12:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILX | Clay, Effingham, Jasper, Richland | 62 min |
| May 23, 12:35 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILX | Clark, Crawford | 40 min |
| May 23, 1:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IND | Vigo | 34 min |
| May 23, 1:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IND | Parke, Vermillion | 33 min |
| May 23, 1:43 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IND | Montgomery, Parke | 32 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, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 164 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
- 435 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -95 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 621 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 33 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 18 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 59 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 231548
SEL0
SPC WW 231545
ILZ000-INZ000-KYZ000-MOZ000-232100-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 260
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1045 AM CDT SUN MAY 23 2004
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS
SOUTHERN INDIANA
NORTHWEST KENTUCKY
EXTREME SOUTHEAST MISSOURI
EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 1045 AM UNTIL 400
PM CDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 75 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 20 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF MOUNT VERNON
ILLINOIS TO 60 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF LOUISVILLE KENTUCKY.
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 259...
DISCUSSION...LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FROM EXTREME EAST CENTRAL
IL INTO SERN MO CONTINUES TO INCREASE IN INTENSITY. ACTIVITY IS
MOVING INTO DESTABILIZING AIR MASS WHERE MOST UNSTABLE CAPE IS
BETWEEN 2000 AND 2500 J/KG. INITIAL THREAT IS EXPECTED TO BE LARGE
HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...BUT AS MID/UPPER LEVEL JET EXIT REGION
MOVING INTO AREA SHEAR WILL BECOME BETTER DEFINED INCREASING TORNADO
THREAT.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.
...MCCARTHY
393,0891 400,0851 375,0851 372,0891SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 22, 8:58 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Boone, Bureau, Carroll, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy and 23 more | 92 min |
| May 23, 12:24 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Boone, Bureau, Carroll, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage and 32 more | 66 min |
| May 23, 12:40 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Boone, Bureau, Carroll, Cook, DeKalb, DuPage and 27 more | 5 hr |
| May 23, 1:21 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Greene, Jersey and 6 more | 24 min |
| May 23, 1:40 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Adams, Brown, Cass, Fulton, Hancock, Logan and 8 more | 4 hr |
| May 23, 4:30 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Boone, Brown, Bureau, Carroll, Cass and 44 more | 60 min |
| May 23, 12:25 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Brown, Bureau, Calhoun, Carroll, Cass and 31 more | 95 min |
| May 23, 12:45 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clark, Clay, Coles, Crawford, Cumberland, Edgar and 18 more | 2 hr |
| May 23, 1:15 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adams, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Fulton, Greene and 16 more | 6 hr |
| May 23, 2:05 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Boone, Bureau, Carroll, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy and 18 more | 8 hr |
| May 23, 2:53 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Iroquois, Vermilion | 67 min |
| May 23, 3:50 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Cook, DuPage, Iroquois, Kankakee, Vermilion, Will | 6 hr |
| May 23, 4:35 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Monroe | 5 hr |
| May 23, 5:00 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Bond, Brown, Calhoun, Cass, Christian and 28 more | 2 hr |
| May 23, 5:10 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Boone, Bureau, Carroll, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy and 17 more | 95 min |
| May 23, 5:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bond, Calhoun, Christian, Clark, Clay, Clinton and 29 more | 6 hr |
| May 23, 6:30 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cook, DuPage, Iroquois, Kankakee, Vermilion, Will | 2 hr |
| May 23, 9:45 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Allen, Benton, Blackford, Boone, Carroll and 37 more | 2 hr |
| May 23, 10:10 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adams, Allen, Blackford, Carroll, Cass, Clinton and 21 more | 6 hr |
| May 23, 12:35 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Allen, Blackford, Carroll, Cass, Clinton and 19 more | 115 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Indiana, 2004Tornado Watches in Illinois, 2004Tornado Watches in Kentucky, 2004Every tornado watch in 2004
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.