Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Northern Indiana

May 18, 1997LaGrange County, Steuben County, Indiana

NWS Northern Indiana issued this tornado warning at May 18, 1997, 9:48 PM EST for LaGrange County, Steuben County, Indiana. It was in force for 27 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 18, 1997, 9:48 PM EST (02:48 UTC)
Expired: May 18, 1997, 10:15 PM EST
In force: 27 min
Issued by: NWS Northern Indiana
Area: Whole counties

Counties LaGrange County, IN, Steuben County, IN

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 18, 10:00 PM EST	Tornado F0	Angola Airport, IN

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 18, 8:00 PM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Detroit, MI (KDTX), launched 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 190 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 17 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -791 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 754 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 296 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 450 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

969 
WFUS1 KFWA 190249 RRA
TORFWA
INC087-151-190315-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WAYNE IN
948 PM EST SUN MAY 18 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT WAYNE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1015 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTHEAST INDIANA
 
   ...SOUTHEASTERN LAGRANGE COUNTY...SOUTHWESTERN STEUBEN COUNTY
 
AT 943 PM EST LAGRANGE COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT REPORTED A TORNADO
TOUCHDOWN JUST NORTH OF LAGRANGE.
 
THE TORNADO WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 45 MPH.
 
PERSONS IN THE CITY OF ANGOLA SHOULD GO TO A PLACE OF SAFETY
IMMEDIATELY.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
MARSHALL
 
&

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 18, 9:40 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	LaGrange	35 min
May 18, 9:57 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Noble	33 min
May 18, 10:21 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Allen	39 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Indiana, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes in 1997

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.