Alert archive / Indiana / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2011

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 342

May 23, 201121 counties in Indiana; 19 counties in Michigan; 14 counties in Ohio

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 23, 2011, 2:15 PM EDT for 21 counties in Indiana; 19 counties in Michigan; 14 counties in Ohio. It was in force for 8 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 23, 2011, 2:15 PM EDT (18:15 UTC)
Expired
May 23, 2011, 10:00 PM EDT
In force
8 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 54 counties

Adams County, IN, Allen County, IN, Blackford County, IN, Cass County, IN, DeKalb County, IN, Elkhart County, IN, Fulton County, IN, Grant County, IN, Huntington County, IN, Jay County, IN, Kosciusko County, IN, LaGrange County, IN, Marshall County, IN, Miami County, IN, Noble County, IN, Pulaski County, IN, Steuben County, IN, Wabash County, IN, Wells County, IN, White County, IN, Whitley County, IN, Branch County, MI, Calhoun County, MI, Genesee County, MI, Hillsdale County, MI, Huron County, MI, Ingham County, MI, Jackson County, MI, Lapeer County, MI, Lenawee County, MI, Livingston County, MI, Macomb County, MI, Monroe County, MI, Oakland County, MI, Saint Clair County, MI, Saint Joseph County, MI, Sanilac County, MI, Tuscola County, MI, Washtenaw County, MI, Wayne County, MI, Allen County, OH, Defiance County, OH, Fulton County, OH, Hancock County, OH, Henry County, OH, Lucas County, OH, Ottawa County, OH, Paulding County, OH, Putnam County, OH, Sandusky County, OH, Seneca County, OH, Van Wert County, OH, Williams County, OH, Wood County, OH

The radar

The Detroit radar (KDTX), 92 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:16 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
20%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
5%
Ten or more severe wind reports
50%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
30%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
20%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
80%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 23, 3:42 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTXWayne40 min
May 23, 4:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXCass, Fulton, Kosciusko, Miami, Wabash39 min
May 23, 4:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTXMacomb, Saint Clair45 min
May 23, 4:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXHuntington, Miami, Wabash, Whitley47 min
May 23, 4:36 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEWood39 min
May 23, 5:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEOttawa, Sandusky42 min
May 23, 5:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRJackson26 min
May 23, 5:09 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTXWashtenaw66 min
May 23, 5:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXHuntington, Wabash, Wells49 min
May 23, 5:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLELucas11 min
May 23, 5:30 PM EDTTornado WarningIWXHuntington, Wells30 min
May 23, 5:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTXWayne55 min
May 23, 5:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXAdams, Allen, Wells47 min
May 23, 5:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXAdams, Wells46 min
May 23, 6:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTXLenawee54 min
May 23, 6:07 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningIWXHuntington3 hr
May 23, 6:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTXMonroe80 min
May 23, 6:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXAllen, Van Wert37 min
May 23, 6:48 PM EDTTornado WarningIWXAllen, Van Wert42 min
May 23, 7:13 PM EDTTornado WarningIWXAllen47 min
May 23, 7:17 PM EDTTornado WarningIWXAllen, Putnam43 min
May 23, 7:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTXWashtenaw, Wayne63 min
May 23, 7:34 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningIWXWabash4 hr
May 23, 7:39 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEHancock55 min
May 23, 7:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDTXMonroe31 min
May 23, 8:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEMarion, Seneca, Wyandot61 min
May 23, 8:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLECrawford, Marion, Morrow, Seneca36 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

Detroit, MI (KDTX), launched 12:00Z, 6.3 hours before the alert went out and 96 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, Detroit, MI at 12:00Z on 2011-05-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 181 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, Detroit, MI at 12:00Z on 2011-05-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 121 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
181 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-79 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
746 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
121 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
135 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

245 
WWUS20 KWNS 231815
SEL2  
SPC WW 231815
INZ000-MIZ000-OHZ000-LEZ000-LHZ000-240200-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 342
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
215 PM EDT MON MAY 23 2011

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

       NORTHERN INDIANA
       SOUTHERN AND EASTERN LOWER MICHIGAN
       NORTHWEST OHIO
       LAKE ERIE
       LAKE HURON

EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 215 PM UNTIL
1000 PM EDT.

HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70
MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 60
STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 35 MILES NORTH
NORTHEAST OF MOUNT CLEMENS MICHIGAN TO 50 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST
OF FORT WAYNE INDIANA.  FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE
THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU2).

REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE
FAVORABLE FOR 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. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY
DO PRODUCE TORNADOES.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 338...WW 339...WW
340...WW 341...

DISCUSSION...TSTMS ARE DEVELOPING ALONG COLD FRONT MOVING EWD
THROUGH REGION WITHIN AN UNCAPPED AND MODERATELY UNSTABLE AIR MASS
WITH MLCAPE OF 1500-2000 J/KG.  REGIONAL VWP DATA INDICATE THE
PRESENCE OF A 50-60 KT JET STREAK LOCATED IN THE 700-500 MB
LAYER...RESULTING IN MORE THAN SUFFICIENT VERTICAL SHEAR FOR
SUPERCELLS AND LINE SEGMENTS CAPABLE OF MAINLY DAMAGING WINDS AND
HAIL.

AVIATION...A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT
TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60
KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM
MOTION VECTOR 26030.


...MEAD

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 22, 8:20 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Allen, Benton, Blackford, Boone, Carroll and 33 more115 min
May 22, 10:35 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCLake55 min
May 22, 10:59 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Carroll, Cass, DeKalb, Elkhart, Fulton and 14 more61 min
May 22, 11:24 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCVermillion, Vigo66 min
May 23, 4:20 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClark, Floyd, Harrison, Jefferson, Ohio, Scott and 1 more85 min
May 23, 8:25 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Allen, Blackford, Boone, Carroll, Cass and 36 more65 min
May 23, 11:55 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCGibson, Pike, Posey, Spencer, Vanderburgh, Warrick7 hr
May 23, 12:35 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Allen, Blackford, Cass, DeKalb, Elkhart and 13 more85 min
May 23, 1:37 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClay, Daviess, Gibson, Greene, Knox, Pike and 6 more83 min
May 23, 1:54 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBartholomew, Boone, Brown, Carroll, Clay, Clinton and 33 more5 hr
May 23, 3:52 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBartholomew, Brown, Clark, Clay, Crawford, Daviess and 42 more53 min
May 23, 4:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCClark, Crawford, Dearborn, Dubois, Fayette, Floyd and 12 more6 hr
May 23, 4:58 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCGibson, Pike, Posey, Spencer, Vanderburgh, Warrick92 min
May 23, 6:20 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClark, Crawford, Dearborn, Decatur, Fayette, Floyd and 15 more55 min
May 23, 6:40 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Allen, Blackford, DeKalb, Grant, Howard and 8 more65 min
May 22, 8:09 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAntrim, Crawford, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Lake, Missaukee and 3 more96 min
May 22, 8:42 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDickinson, Iron63 min
May 23, 7:20 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAthens, Belmont, Coshocton, Gallia, Guernsey, Harrison and 15 more85 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Indiana, 2011Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Michigan, 2011Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Ohio, 2011Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2011

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.