Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Watches in 2018
Tornado Watch 290
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jul 20, 2018, 2:12 PM EDT for 16 counties in Indiana; 5 counties in Michigan. It was in force for 3 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Jul 20, 2018, 2:12 PM EDT (18:12 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 20, 2018, 5:17 PM EDT
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 21 counties
Adams County, IN, Allen County, IN, Blackford County, IN, DeKalb County, IN, Elkhart County, IN, Grant County, IN, Huntington County, IN, Jay County, IN, Kosciusko County, IN, LaGrange County, IN, Miami County, IN, Noble County, IN, Steuben County, IN, Wabash County, IN, Wells County, IN, Whitley County, IN, Branch County, MI, Cass County, MI, Kalamazoo County, MI, Saint Joseph County, MI, Van Buren County, MI
The radar
The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 27 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
- 30%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 20%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 50%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 20%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 50%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 20%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 80%
Warnings issued inside it
7 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 2:24 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IWX | Elkhart, Kosciusko, LaGrange, Noble, Saint Joseph | 51 min |
| Jul 20, 2:36 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | IWX | Kosciusko, Wabash, Whitley | 22 min |
| Jul 20, 3:00 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IWX | Allen, Huntington, Wabash, Whitley | 45 min |
| Jul 20, 3:11 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | IWX | Huntington, Wabash | 18 min |
| Jul 20, 3:40 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IWX | Adams, Blackford, Grant, Huntington, Jay, Wells | 50 min |
| Jul 20, 3:45 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | IWX | Blackford | 30 min |
| Jul 20, 4:07 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IWX | Adams, Allen, Wells | 38 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, 6.2 hours before the alert went out and 215 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
- 2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -259 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1262 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 35 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 151 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 162 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted.
872 WWUS20 KWNS 201810 SEL0 SPC WW 201810 INZ000-MIZ000-202200- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Tornado Watch Number 290 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 215 PM EDT Fri Jul 20 2018 The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a * Tornado Watch for portions of Northern Indiana Southwest Lower Michigan * Effective this Friday afternoon and evening from 215 PM until 600 PM EDT. * Primary threats include... A couple tornadoes possible Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible Scattered large hail events to 1.5 inches in diameter possible SUMMARY...A line of thunderstorms over northwest Indiana will spread eastward across the watch area, with some potential for a tornado or two, hail, and damaging wind gusts. The tornado watch area is approximately along and 25 statute miles east and west of a line from 5 miles west of Kalamazoo MI to 115 miles south of Kalamazoo MI. For a complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU0). 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 289... 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 500. Mean storm motion vector 22025. ...Hart
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 12:43 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Gibson, Posey | 92 min |
| Jul 20, 1:19 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bartholomew, Clark, Crawford, Dearborn, Decatur, Fayette and 15 more | 56 min |
| Jul 20, 1:37 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bartholomew, Clark, Crawford, Dearborn, Decatur, Dubois and 18 more | 7 hr |
| Jul 20, 1:43 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Allen, Blackford, Carroll, Cass, DeKalb and 16 more | 92 min |
| Jul 20, 1:58 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Vanderburgh | 62 min |
| Jul 20, 3:43 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clark, Crawford, Dearborn, Decatur, Floyd, Franklin and 10 more | 62 min |
| Jul 20, 3:59 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Allen, Blackford, DeKalb, Delaware, Jay and 2 more | 61 min |
| Jul 20, 6:37 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bartholomew, Brown, Clark, Crawford, Dearborn, Decatur and 22 more | 53 min |
| Jul 20, 7:22 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Clark, Crawford, Dubois, Floyd, Gibson, Harrison and 10 more | 8 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Indiana, 2018Tornado Watches in Michigan, 2018Every tornado watch in 2018
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.