Alert archive / Kentucky / Tornado Watches in 2016

Tornado Watch 117

April 27, 20168 counties in Indiana; 22 counties in Kentucky

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 27, 2016, 6:11 PM EDT for 8 counties in Indiana; 22 counties in Kentucky. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 27, 2016, 6:11 PM EDT (22:11 UTC)
Expired
Apr 27, 2016, 9:07 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 30 counties

Dubois County, IN, Gibson County, IN, Perry County, IN, Pike County, IN, Posey County, IN, Spencer County, IN, Vanderburgh County, IN, Warrick County, IN, Breckinridge County, KY, Butler County, KY, Caldwell County, KY, Christian County, KY, Crittenden County, KY, Daviess County, KY, Edmonson County, KY, Grayson County, KY, Hancock County, KY, Henderson County, KY, Hopkins County, KY, Logan County, KY, Lyon County, KY, McLean County, KY, Muhlenberg County, KY, Ohio County, KY, Simpson County, KY, Todd County, KY, Trigg County, KY, Union County, KY, Warren County, KY, Webster County, KY

The radar

The Evansville,IN radar (KVWX), 71 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:14 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
10%
Ten or more severe hail reports
30%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
10%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
60%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 27, 6:15 PM EDTTornado WarningPAHMcLean, Webster30 min
Apr 27, 6:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKOhio31 min
Apr 27, 6:32 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPAHHenderson, Union, Webster3 hr
Apr 27, 7:00 PM EDTTornado WarningPAHHopkins, McLean15 min
Apr 27, 7:01 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPAHVanderburgh3 hr
Apr 27, 7:10 PM EDTTornado WarningPAHDaviess, McLean20 min
Apr 27, 7:14 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPAHSpencer, Warrick3 hr
Apr 27, 7:16 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKPerry44 min
Apr 27, 7:17 PM EDTTornado WarningPAHDaviess, McLean13 min
Apr 27, 7:33 PM EDTTornado WarningPAHDaviess12 min
Apr 27, 7:38 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningLMKOhio3 hr
Apr 27, 7:45 PM EDTTornado Warning Tornado observedPAHDaviess30 min
Apr 27, 7:48 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKBreckinridge, Butler, Grayson, Ohio42 min
Apr 27, 7:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKAllen, Butler, Edmonson, Grayson, Simpson, Warren39 min
Apr 27, 7:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKCrawford, Harrison, Perry38 min
Apr 27, 8:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKBreckinridge, Meade50 min
Apr 27, 8:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKEdmonson, Grayson, Hardin, Hart35 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, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 189 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 2016-04-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 669 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 2016-04-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 122 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
669 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-79 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
828 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
122 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
166 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

839 
WWUS20 KWNS 272209
SEL7  
SPC WW 272209
INZ000-KYZ000-280400-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 117
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
510 PM CDT WED APR 27 2016

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 
  SOUTHWEST INDIANA
  WESTERN KENTUCKY

* EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 510 PM
  UNTIL 1100 PM CDT.

* PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE...
  A COUPLE TORNADOES POSSIBLE
  ISOLATED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH POSSIBLE
  ISOLATED LARGE HAIL EVENTS TO 1.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER POSSIBLE

SUMMARY...ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS OVER WESTERN KY ARE INTERACTING
WITH A WEAK BOUNDARY...AND BECOMING OCCASIONALLY SEVERE.  ISOLATED
TORNADOES AND LOCALLY DAMAGING WIND GUSTS WILL BE POSSIBLE FOR A FEW
HOURS THIS EVENING.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 45 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES NORTHEAST OF
EVANSVILLE INDIANA TO 45 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF BOWLING GREEN
KENTUCKY.  FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU7).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

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 116...

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
450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24025.


...HART

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 26, 8:20 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBartholomew, Brown, Clark, Crawford, Dearborn, Decatur and 17 more55 min
Apr 27, 4:28 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCalloway, Graves, Trigg2 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Kentucky, 2016Tornado Watches in Indiana, 2016Every tornado watch in 2016

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.