Alert archive / Kentucky / Tornado Watches in 2009

Tornado Watch 93

March 28, 200910 counties in Indiana; 27 counties in Kentucky; 12 counties in Tennessee

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 28, 2009, 7:24 PM EDT for 10 counties in Indiana; 27 counties in Kentucky; 12 counties in Tennessee. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 28, 2009, 7:24 PM EDT (23:24 UTC)
Expired
Mar 28, 2009, 11:11 PM EDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 49 counties

Clark County, IN, Crawford County, IN, Dubois County, IN, Floyd County, IN, Harrison County, IN, Jefferson County, IN, Orange County, IN, Perry County, IN, Scott County, IN, Washington County, IN, Adair County, KY, Anderson County, KY, Barren County, KY, Boyle County, KY, Bullitt County, KY, Casey County, KY, Clinton County, KY, Cumberland County, KY, Green County, KY, Hardin County, KY, Hart County, KY, Henry County, KY, Jefferson County, KY, Larue County, KY, Marion County, KY, Meade County, KY, Mercer County, KY, Metcalfe County, KY, Monroe County, KY, Nelson County, KY, Oldham County, KY, Russell County, KY, Shelby County, KY, Spencer County, KY, Taylor County, KY, Trimble County, KY, Washington County, KY, Clay County, TN, Cumberland County, TN, DeKalb County, TN, Fentress County, TN, Grundy County, TN, Jackson County, TN, Overton County, TN, Pickett County, TN, Putnam County, TN, Van Buren County, TN, Warren County, TN, White County, TN

The radar

The Louisville radar (KLVX), 48 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:25 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.

What SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes
40%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
50%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
80%

Warnings issued inside it

6 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 28, 8:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKCrawford, Harrison, Perry49 min
Mar 28, 8:22 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXCoffee, Grundy, Warren23 min
Mar 28, 8:29 PM EDTTornado WarningLMKGrayson, Hardin31 min
Mar 28, 8:33 PM EDTTornado WarningLMKCrawford, Harrison27 min
Mar 28, 8:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOHXGrundy, Van Buren, Warren30 min
Mar 28, 9:16 PM EDTTornado WarningOHXGrundy, Van Buren, Warren29 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

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 168 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2009-03-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 5 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Nashville Metro, TN at 12:00Z on 2009-03-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 113 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
5 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-34 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
574 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
113 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
75 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.

396 
WWUS20 KWNS 282322
SEL3  
SPC WW 282322
INZ000-KYZ000-TNZ000-290400-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 93
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
625 PM CDT SAT MAR 28 2009

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 

       SOUTHERN INDIANA
       CENTRAL KENTUCKY
       MIDDLE TENNESSEE

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY EVENING FROM 625 PM UNTIL 1100 PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 40 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 45 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF
LOUISVILLE KENTUCKY TO 25 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CROSSVILLE
TENNESSEE.  FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU3).

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 90...WW 91...WW 92...

DISCUSSION...LINE OF SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUES TO TRACK
EASTWARD ACROSS CENTRAL KY/MIDDLE TN.  SUFFICIENT INSTABILITY
SUGGESTS STORMS MAY PERSIST FOR ANOTHER 2-3 HOURS WITH A CONTINUED
THREAT OF DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL...AND ISOLATED TORNADOES.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
400. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 22030.


...HART

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 28, 1:58 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCPosey, Spencer, Vanderburgh, Warrick92 min
Mar 28, 3:23 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCPosey, Spencer, Vanderburgh, Warrick7 hr
Mar 28, 6:18 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCSpencer, Vanderburgh, Warrick57 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Kentucky, 2009Tornado Watches in Tennessee, 2009Tornado Watches in Indiana, 2009Every tornado watch in 2009

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.