Alert archive / Indiana / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 18, NWS Chicago, IL

July 18, 1997Lake County, Indiana

NWS Chicago, IL issued this flash flood warning at Jul 18, 1997, 2:19 PM CDT for Lake County, Indiana. It was in force for 41 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 18, 1997, 2:19 PM CDT (19:19 UTC)
Expired
Jul 18, 1997, 3:00 PM CDT
In force
41 min
Issued by
NWS Chicago, IL
Area
Whole counties

County Lake County, IN

The radar

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 61 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:21 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 179 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, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 1997-07-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2335 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 1997-07-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 87 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
2335 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-82 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
952 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
87 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
107 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCHI 181917
FFWCHI
INC089-182000-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
219 PM CDT FRI JUL 18 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHICAGO HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  300 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHWEST INDIANA
 
   ...LAKE COUNTY
 
AT 215 PM RADAR CONTINUED TO DECTECT A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER NORTHERN
LAKE COUNTY AROUND SCHERERVILLE. THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15
MPH. RADAR INDICATED THAT THIS STORM PRODUCED OVER 3 INCHES RAIN IN EAST
CHICAGO AND OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE CONTINUING TO DEVELOP OVER SOUTHERN
COOK COUNTY WHICH WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN AND CENTRAL LAKE COUNTY
THROUGH 300 PM.
 
DON'T DRIVE ACROSS FLOODED ROADS!  MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR
IN VEHICLES.

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

Local storm report, Jul 18, 8:35 AM CDT, 5 hours 44 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECT ISSUED AM FROM PM
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
835 AM CDT FRI JUL 18 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0710 AM    WAYNE                     IL   WIND DAMAGE
07/18/97   DU PAGE                        TREES DOWN
                                          IL59 & ARMY TRAIL RD.

0725 AM    CAROL STREAM              IL   WIND GUST
07/18/97   DU PAGE                        63 MPH MEASURED
Local storm report, Jul 18, 8:38 AM CDT, 5 hours 41 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
835 PM CDT FRI JUL 18 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0710 AM    WAYNE                     IL   WIND DAMAGE
07/18/97   DU PAGE                        TREES DOWN
                                          IL59 & ARMY TRAIL RD.
0725 AM    CAROL STREAM              IL   63 MPH WIND GUST
07/18/97   DUPAGE                         MEASURED
Local storm report, Jul 18, 9:16 AM CDT, 5 hours 3 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
835 PM CDT FRI JUL 18 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0710 AM    WAYNE                     IL   WIND DAMAGE
07/18/97   DU PAGE                        TREES DOWN
                                          IL59 & ARMY TRAIL RD.

0725 AM    CAROL STREAM              IL   WIND GUST
07/18/97   DU PAGE                        63 MPH MEASURED
Special weather statement, Jul 18, 10:57 AM CDT, 3 hours 22 minutes before
ILZ003>006-008-010>014-019>023-032>033-039-INZ001>005-010>016-019>020-
191100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
1100 AM CDT FRI JUL 19 1997

FOR NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND NORTHWEST AND NORTH
CENTRAL INDIANA

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTH CENTRAL AND
NORTHEAST ILLINOIS AND A SMALL PART OF NORTHWEST INDIANA THIS
AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. NO SEVERE STORMS ARE EXPECTED IN NORTH CENTRAL
INDIANA.

AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES OF 85 TO 90 COMBINED WITH DEWPOINT TEMPERATURES
IN THE LOWER TO MIDDLE 70S WILL CREATE A VERY WARM...HUMID...UNSTABLE
ATMOSPHERE OVER NORTHERN ILLINOIS AND INDIANA. A COLD FRONT PUSHING
SOUTH FROM WISCONSIN AND MICHIGAN WILL REACH NORTHERN ILLINOIS AND
INDIANA TOWARD EVENING. THIS WILL BE THE FOCUS OF THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY.
A STRONG JET STREAM ACROSS THE NORTHERN GREAT LAKES WILL ENHANCE THE
THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT.

A COMPLEX OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS OVER SOUTHEAST MINNESOTA LATE
THIS MORNING. IT IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO PROPOGATE EAST SOUTHEAST
TOWARD NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS THIS AFTERNOON. A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL
ILLINOIS UNTILr 400 PM.

ALLSOPP

The office that day

Everything else NWS Chicago, IL issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 18, 1:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTLake63 min
Jul 18, 2:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTLake41 min
Jul 18, 3:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTFulton, Kosciusko, Marshall59 min
Jul 18, 3:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTLake68 min
Jul 18, 4:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTLake68 min
Jul 18, 4:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTJasper, Newton, Porter63 min
Jul 18, 4:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTBenton58 min
Jul 18, 4:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTPulaski, White62 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Indiana, 1997Every flash flood warning 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.