Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 6, NWS Chicago, IL
NWS Chicago, IL issued this tornado warning at Apr 30, 1997, 6:27 PM EST for Elkhart County, Saint Joseph County, Indiana. It was in force for 33 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
- Apr 30, 1997, 6:27 PM EST (23:27 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 30, 1997, 7:00 PM EST
- In force
- 33 min
- Issued by
- NWS Chicago, IL
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Elkhart County, IN, Saint Joseph County, IN
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 30, 6:40 PM EST | Thunderstorm Wind | Mishawaka, IN | |
| Apr 30, 6:50 PM EST | Thunderstorm Wind 65 | Elkhart Muni Arpt, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 30, 3:30 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 267 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
217 WFUS1 KCHI 302330 RRA TORCHI INC039-141-010000- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 627 PM CDT (627 PM EST) WED APR 30 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHICAGO HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 PM CDT (700 PM EST) FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN NORTH CENTRAL INDIANA ...NORTHWESTERN ELKHART COUNTY ...NORTHEASTERN ST. JOSEPH COUNTY AT 626 PM RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO ABOUT 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SOUTH BEND. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH. SOME CITIES IN THE PATH OF MISHAWAKA AND ELKHART. GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR TAYLOR
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 28 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
Special weather statement, Apr 30, 1:00 PM EST, 5 hours 27 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
Special weather statement, Apr 30, 6:00 PM EST, 27 minutes before
ILZ008-010-019-032-039-010000- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 600 PM CDT WED APR 30 1997 ...TORNADO WATCH CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS... LEE...OGLE...LASALLE...LIVINGSTON...AND FORD. THE SEVERE THREAT HAS MOVED EASTWARD OUT OF THE VICINITY OF THESE COUNTIES. BRUMER
Special weather statement, Apr 30, 6:03 PM EST, 24 minutes before
ILZ008-010-019-032-039-010000- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL 600 PM CDT WED APR 30 1997 ...TORNADO WATCH CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN NORTH CENTRAL ILLINOIS... LEE...OGLE...LASALLE...LIVINGSTON...AND FORD. THE SEVERE THREAT HAS MOVED EASTWARD OUT OF THE VICINITY OF THESE COUNTIES. BRUMER
The office that day
Everything else NWS Chicago, IL issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 30, 5:37 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LOT | Benton, Jasper, Newton | 53 min |
| Apr 30, 5:44 PM EST | Tornado Warning | LOT | Pulaski, Starke | 46 min |
| Apr 30, 5:59 PM EST | Tornado Warning | LOT | Pulaski, White | 31 min |
| Apr 30, 6:10 PM EST | Tornado Warning | LOT | Marshall, Saint Joseph | 35 min |
| Apr 30, 6:44 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LOT | Elkhart, Kosciusko | 46 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.