Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Chicago, IL

April 30, 1997Pulaski County, White County, Indiana

NWS Chicago, IL issued this tornado warning at Apr 30, 1997, 5:59 PM EST for Pulaski County, White County, Indiana. It was in force for 31 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
Apr 30, 1997, 5:59 PM EST (22:59 UTC)
Expired
Apr 30, 1997, 6:30 PM EST
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Chicago, IL
Area
Whole counties

Counties Pulaski County, IN, White County, IN

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 30, 6:00 PM ESTThunderstorm WindNrn Part Of Cnty, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 30, 3:30 PM ESTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 175 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 1997-04-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Lincoln, IL at 12:00Z on 1997-04-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 115 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
1130 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
115 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
166 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 tornado 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, Apr 30, 12:59 PM EST, 5 hours before
ILZ008-010-011-019-301900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
100 PM CDT WED APR 30 1997

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT...

AT 1 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED SCATTERED SHOWERS ACROSS NORTHWEST AND WEST
CENTRAL ILLINOIS.  THIS AREA OF SHOWERS WAS PRECEDING A LINE OF
THUNDERSTORMS THAT CONTINUES TO INTENSIFY ACROSS SOUTHEAST IOWA AND
NORTHEAST MISSOURI.

THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED TO BECOME SEVERE AS IT APPROACHES
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER BY 2 PM.  THIS LINE SHOULD REACH NORTH CENTRAL
ILLINOIS BETWEEN 4 AND 5 PM CDT.

PERSONS SHOULD LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS
CONCERING THIS SEVERE WEATHER SITUATION AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE QUICKLY
TO A PLACE OF SAFETY.

MERZLOCK
Special weather statement, Apr 30, 1:00 PM EST, 4 hours 59 minutes before
ILZ008-010-011-019-301900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
100 PM CDT WED APR 30 1997

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT...

AT 1 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED SCATTERED SHOWERS ACROSS NORTHWEST AND WEST
CENTRAL ILLINOIS.  THIS AREA OF SHOWERS WAS PRECEDING A LINE OF
THUNDERSTORMS THAT CONTINUES TO INTENSIFY ACROSS SOUTHEAST IOWA AND
NORTHEAST MISSOURI.

THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED TO BECOME SEVERE AS IT APPROACHES
THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER BY 2 PM.  THIS LINE SHOULD REACH NORTH CENTRAL
ILLINOIS BETWEEN 4 AND 5 PM CDT.

PERSONS SHOULD LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS
CONCERING THIS SEVERE WEATHER SITUATION AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE QUICKLY
TO A PLACE OF SAFETY.

MERZLOCK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 30, 5:37 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTBenton, Jasper, Newton53 min
Apr 30, 5:44 PM ESTTornado WarningLOTPulaski, Starke46 min
Apr 30, 6:10 PM ESTTornado WarningLOTMarshall, Saint Joseph35 min
Apr 30, 6:27 PM ESTTornado WarningLOTElkhart, Saint Joseph33 min
Apr 30, 6:44 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTElkhart, Kosciusko46 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.