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Ten Year Anniversary of 9/20/02 Tornado Outbreak


Hoosier

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8 tornadoes occurred in IN/OH (4 F2 or higher), so not a huge event, but decent enough by late September standards. The standout tornado in this outbreak was an F3 that started north of Bloomington and ended near Hartford City. It was on the ground for 2 hours and 21 minutes and covered 112 miles, which is one of the longest documented paths in Indiana history if not the longest (the 1974 Monticello tornado is often referenced as the longest but reanalysis chopped it down to about 109 miles). A couple tornado warnings from that day are posted below. This was one of the earliest usages of the "tornado emergency" wording in warning text.

015 
WFUS53 KIND 201822 
TORIND 
INC081-097-201900- 

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 
121 PM EST FRI SEP 20 2002 

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN INDIANAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A 

* TORNADO WARNING FOR... 
NORTHERN JOHNSON COUNTY IN CENTRAL INDIANA 
MARION COUNTY IN CENTRAL INDIANA 
THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF INDIANAPOLIS 

* UNTIL 200 PM EST 

* AT 116 PM EST...AMATEUR RADIO WEATHER SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO JUST SOUTH OF MARTINSVILLE...OR ABOUT 17 MILES NORTH OF BLOOMINGTON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. 

* THE MOST DANGEROUS PART OF THE STORM IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR... BARGERSVILLE AT 135 PM EST 
GREENWOOD AT 140 PM EST 
HOMECROFT AT 145 PM EST 
BEECH GROVE AT 150 PM EST 
INDIANAPOLIS AT 150 PM EST 

THIS IS A LIFE THREATENING TORNADO EMERGENCY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS LARGE AND DESTRUCTIVE TORNADO...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. 

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...GO TO THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM. GET UNDER STURDY FURNITURE OR USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY. 

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT. 

929 
WFUS53 KIND 201846 
TORIND 
INC059-201930- 

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN 
146 PM EST FRI SEP 20 2002 

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN INDIANAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A 

* TORNADO WARNING FOR... 
HANCOCK COUNTY IN CENTRAL INDIANA 

* UNTIL 230 PM EST 

* AT 140 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 14 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CUMBERLAND...OR ABOUT 9 MILES SOUTH OF INDIANAPOLIS... MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. 

* THE MOST DANGEROUS PART OF THE STORM IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR... CUMBERLAND AT 215 PM EST 
SPRING LAKE AT 225 PM EST 
MCCORDSVILLE AT 230 PM EST 

THIS IS A LIFE THREATENING TORNADO EMERGENCY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS LARGE AND DESTRUCTIVE TORNADO...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. 

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...GO TO THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM. GET UNDER STURDY FURNITURE OR USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY. 

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT.

The day started out as a slight risk but was eventually upgraded to moderate risk. 0600z outlook: (change the 1 in the spcotlk-nav-1 part of the URL to 2, 3, 4, etc. to read the other outlooks from that day)

http://www.spc.noaa.gov/exper/archive/events/020920/spcotlk-nav-1.html

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