Name: Damaging Wind in Indiana, September 19, 2002
Start: 2002-09-19T11:10
End: 2002-09-19T11:10
Location: Indiana

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Chicago, IL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 19, 12:26 AM CST, 10 hours 44 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 19, 12:26 AM CST, 10 hours 44 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
126 AM CDT THU SEP 19 2002

AT 05Z IMPRESSIVE BAND TS FROM INL-OTM-SW TX ALONG 850 35-50KT JET
WITH 20 850 DP AT TOP 00Z SOUNDING. NOT TOO SHABBY FOR 19 SEP.
SOMETHING WOULD EXPECT LATE APRIL. DP UPPER 60S OVER AREA. AGAIN
IMPRESSIVE. TS BAND IS MOVING GRADAULLY E 15- 20KT.

AT 05Z VAPOR PIC SHOWS AVN BEST ON SHEAR TROF E MT-NM. ALL SHOW TS
BAND JUST AHEAD OF VORT PACKING MN-TX. ETA/RUC SHOW THIS BEST. MODELS
MISPLACED VORT MAX AT 06Z. LOOKING AT RADAR/SATL LOOKS LIKE IT NR
MN/IA BORDER MOVG NE AND CARRYING TS BATCH ACROSS CENTRAL WI AND TO
JUST CLIP XTRM NW CORNER OF AREA. THEN NO BIG E PUSH TO BAND E IA-NW
MO.

AVN HAS FINALLY GETTING CLOSER TO ETA MUCH SLOWER WAY FROM 2 DAYS AGO
AND 1 DAY AGO. AVN STILL LITTLE FASTER 48-60 HOURS. WITH ETA CLEAR
WINNER HERE AND NGM IN AGREEMENT THAT IS AGAIN WHAT WILL BE FOLLOWED.
THIS WILL AGAIN DELAY END OF PRECIP OVER AREA INTO FRIDAY NIGHT. BIG
PROBLEM BETWEEN NOW AND THEN TO TRY TO TIME THE MAJOR RW/TRW PUSHES
OVER THE AREA. AGAIN HIGHEST POPS W AND LOWER E BUT ALL GET INTO THE
ACTION.

BASED ON VORT PATTERN LOOKS LIKE 3 CONCENTRATED BANDS NOT COUNTING
ANY SCATTERED STUFF...CURRENT ONE TO GRADUALLY MOVE E AND REBUILD
DURING AFTN OVER AREA...2ND ONE BY FRI MORN JUST E MS RIVER WITH 3RD
ONE FRIDAY AFTN AS MAIN TROF VORT PATTERN FINALLY MOVES OVER AREA.
THINK BY FRI EVE HEAVIEST TS BAND TO BE IN OUR SE COUNTIES USING
ETA/NGM AND LINGERING STUFF E OF ENTIRE AREA BY SAT MORNING.

BESIDED TIMING OTHER CONCERN IS HEAVY RAIN. MODELS SHOW PREIP WATER
VALUES NR OR OVER 2 INCHES BEGINING THIS EVE TIL FRI EVE. MODELS ALSO
AGREE ON GOOD UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE LATE TONIGHT. SO HEAVY RAIN TO
BE CARRIED IN FORECASTS.

TEMPS AGAIN COOLER NW AND HIER SE.

.CHI...NONE

AF

The radar

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 61 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:11 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Lake

When: September 19, 11:10 AM CST
Where: Lake County, Gary
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 41.617, -87.350

Trees blown down.

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind: Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Indiana in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Indiana, September 2002

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5316781.