Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 16, NWS Chicago, IL
NWS Chicago, IL issued this tornado warning at Aug 16, 1997, 7:59 PM EST for Saint Joseph County, Indiana. It was in force for 31 min. 2 reports 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
- Aug 16, 1997, 7:59 PM EST (00:59 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 16, 1997, 8:30 PM EST
- In force
- 31 min
- Issued by
- NWS Chicago, IL
- Area
- Whole counties
County Saint Joseph County, IN
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 16, 8:03 PM EST | Hail 1.75 | South Bend, IN | |
| Aug 16, 8:22 PM EST | Tornado F0 | Lakeville, IN | A short, narrow tornado touched down briefly between Lakeville and LaPaz. A semi was blown over on highway 31. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 16, 1:45 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
| Aug 16, 5:15 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 254 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 5712 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -3 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 995 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 15 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 98 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 317 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KCHI 170059 RRA TORCHI INC141-170130- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 759 PM CDT (759 PM EST) SAT AUG 16 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHICAGO HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 830 PM CDT (830 PM EST) FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTH CENTRAL INDIANA ...ST. JOSEPH COUNTY A TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND 4 MILES SOUTH OF SOUTH BEND. IT WAS MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH. WOODLAND IS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM. GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR! & ALLSOPP
The office that day
Everything else NWS Chicago, IL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 16, 7:09 PM EST | Tornado Warning | LOT | LaPorte | 36 min |
| Aug 16, 7:48 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LOT | LaPorte, Saint Joseph | 42 min |
| Aug 16, 8:16 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LOT | Elkhart | 29 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Indiana, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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.