Alert archive / Indiana / Flash Flood Warnings in 1988

Flash Flood Warning 1, NWS Northern Indiana

October 17, 1988Allen County, Indiana

NWS Northern Indiana issued this flash flood warning at Oct 17, 1988, 9:21 PM EST for Allen County, Indiana. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 17, 1988, 9:21 PM EST (02:21 UTC)
Expired
Oct 17, 1988, 11:30 PM EST
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Northern Indiana
Area
Whole counties

County Allen County, IN

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Detroit, MI (KFNT), launched 00:00Z, 2.4 hours before the alert went out and 226 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 00:00Z on 1988-10-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 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 00:00Z on 1988-10-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 319 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
757 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
319 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
366 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Oct 17, 3:53 PM EST, 5 hours 28 minutes before
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Special weather statement, Oct 17, 5:25 PM EST, 3 hours 56 minutes before
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Special weather statement, Oct 17, 6:05 PM EST, 3 hours 16 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SOUTH BEND IN
600 PM EST MON OCT 17 1988

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 9PM EST...
...FLASH FLOOD WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 730 PM EST (830 PM EDT) FOR
ELKHART AND ST. JOSEPH COUNTIES IN INDIANA AND SOUTHERN BERRIEN AND
SOUTHERN CASS COUNTIES IN SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN...

RAINFALL OF TWO TO THREE INCHES OVER THE REGION HAS CAUSED FLOODING
OF STREETS AND INTERSECTIONS THROUGHOUT MICHIANA.

AT 545 PM EST...RADAR INDICATED RAPIDLY DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORMS NEAR
JOLIET ILLINOIS...25 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF CHICAGO.

A LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING OVER MOST OF
NORTH CENTRAL INDIANA AND SOUTHWEST LOWER M$ICHIGAN AS WELL AS SOUTHERN
LAKE MICHIGAN.

THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT ABOUT 30 MILES AN
HOUR.

MW
Special weather statement, Oct 17, 6:26 PM EST, 2 hours 55 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WAYNE IN
625 PM EST MON OCT 17 1988

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF NORTHEAST
INDIANA UNTIL 9 PM EST...

AT 620 PM EST A LARGE AREA OF RAIN COVERED MOST OF NORTHERN INDIANA...
NORTHWEST OHIO AND SOUTHERN MICHIGAN. SOME THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY
RAIN WERE EMBEDDED IN THE RAIN AREA...ESPECIALLY IN LAGRANGE AND
STEUBEN COUNTIES OF EXTREME NORTHEAST INDIANA. SOME STREET FLOODING
IS POSSIBLE IN THE AREAS OF HEAVY RAIN. THE RAIN AREA WAS MOVING EAST
AT 35 MPH.

BY 730PM EST THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN WILL BE IN WILLIAMS COUNTY
OF NORTHWEST OHIO. SOME STREET FLOODING WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE FROM THESE
STORMS.

HAYES4
Special weather statement, Oct 17, 7:35 PM EST, 1 hour 46 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WAYNE IN
735 PM EST MON OCT 17 1988

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF NORTHEAST
INDIANA UNTIL 9 PM EST...

AT 730 PM EST A LARGE AREA OF RAIN COVERED MOST OF NORTHERN INDIANA...
NORTHWEST OHIO AND SOUTHERN MICHIGAN. A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WERE EMBEDDED
IN THE LARGER AREA AND THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL CAUSE BRIEF HEAVY RAIN
AS THEY MOVE TO THE EAST AT 35 MPH.

NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED IN NORTHEAST INDIANA THIS EVENING.
HAYES
Special weather statement, Oct 17, 8:15 PM EST, 1 hour 6 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WAYNE IN
810 PM EST MON OCT 17 1988

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF NORTHEAST
INDIANA UNTIL 9 PM EST...

AT 805 PM EST A LARGE AREA OF RAIN WITH OCCASIONAL EMBEDDED
THUNDERSTORMS COVERED MUCH OF NORTHERN INDIANA AND NORTHWEST OHIO. THE
RAIN WAS MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

MUCH OF NORTHEAST INDIANA NORTH OF A LINE FROM WABASH TO HUNTINGTON TO
DECATUR IN ADAMS COUNTY WILL RECEIVE HEAVY RAIN UNTIL 930 PM THIS
EVENING. LAGRANGE AND STEUBEN COUNTIES HAVE RECEIVED AROUND 3 INCHES OF
RAIN SO FAR TODAY AND WITH MORE HEAVY RAIN EXPECTED SMALL STREAM AND
STREET FLOODING CAN BE EXPECTED THIS EVENING. THE REMAINDER OF
NORTHEAST INDIANA CAN ALSO EXPECT STREET FLOODING THROUGH 930 PM.
UNDERPASSES SHOULD BE WATCHED CAREFULLY.
HAYES

The office that day

Everything else NWS Northern Indiana issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 17, 10:14 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXAllen, Wells46 min
Oct 17, 11:48 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningIWXDefiance, Williams117 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Indiana, 1988Every flash flood warning in 1988

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.