Alert archive / Indiana / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 252

May 5, 199723 counties in Illinois; 38 counties in Indiana; 8 counties in Michigan

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 5, 1997, 1:45 PM CDT for 23 counties in Illinois; 38 counties in Indiana; 8 counties in Michigan. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 5, 1997, 1:45 PM CDT (18:45 UTC)
Expired
May 5, 1997, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 69 counties

Champaign County, IL, Christian County, IL, Coles County, IL, Cook County, IL, DeWitt County, IL, Douglas County, IL, DuPage County, IL, Edgar County, IL, Ford County, IL, Grundy County, IL, Iroquois County, IL, Kane County, IL, Kankakee County, IL, Kendall County, IL, Lake County, IL, Livingston County, IL, Logan County, IL, Macon County, IL, McLean County, IL, Moultrie County, IL, Piatt County, IL, Vermilion County, IL, Will County, IL, Benton County, IN, Boone County, IN, Carroll County, IN, Cass County, IN, Clinton County, IN, Elkhart County, IN, Fountain County, IN, Fulton County, IN, Grant County, IN, Hamilton County, IN, Hendricks County, IN, Howard County, IN, Huntington County, IN, Jasper County, IN, Kosciusko County, IN, LaGrange County, IN, Lake County, IN, LaPorte County, IN, Marion County, IN, Marshall County, IN, Miami County, IN, Montgomery County, IN, Morgan County, IN, Newton County, IN, Noble County, IN, Parke County, IN, Porter County, IN, Pulaski County, IN, Putnam County, IN, Saint Joseph County, IN, Starke County, IN, Tippecanoe County, IN, Tipton County, IN, Vermillion County, IN, Wabash County, IN, Warren County, IN, White County, IN, Whitley County, IN, Allegan County, MI, Berrien County, MI, Branch County, MI, Calhoun County, MI, Cass County, MI, Kalamazoo County, MI, Saint Joseph County, MI, Van Buren County, MI

The radar

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 107 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:44 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.

Warnings issued inside it

13 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 5, 2:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTGrundy, Will43 min
May 5, 2:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTCook50 min
May 5, 2:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTKankakee51 min
May 5, 2:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTPorter29 min
May 5, 2:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTLake34 min
May 5, 3:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTJasper, Porter30 min
May 5, 3:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTLaPorte, Starke29 min
May 5, 3:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRAllegan65 min
May 5, 3:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTBenton32 min
May 5, 4:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLOTMarshall43 min
May 5, 4:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILXVermilion26 min
May 5, 4:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRKalamazoo63 min
May 5, 5:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGRRBranch, Hillsdale61 min

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 95 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 1997-05-05Temperature 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 1997-05-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 228 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1877 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
228 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
250 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.

131 
WWUS9 KMKC 051811
SEL2  
MKC WW 051811
ILZ000-INZ000-MIZ000-LMZ000-060000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 252
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
111 PM CDT MON MAY 5 1997

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR ALL OR PORTIONS OF

   NORTHERN AND CENTRAL ILLINOIS                           
   NORTHERN AND CENTRAL INDIANA                            
   SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN                           
   SOUTHERN LAKE MICHIGAN                      

EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 145 PM UNTIL 700
PM CDT.

HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 75
MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 95 STATUTE MILES
EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 15 MILES EAST OF MATTOON ILLINOIS TO
25 MILES NORTH OF BENTON HARBOR MICHIGAN.


REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE
FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

DISCUSSION...LINE OF STRONG/SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED TO
DEVELOP RAPIDLY ALONG COLD FRONT FROM SOUTHEASTERN WI TO WEST
CENTRAL IL.  AIRMASS HAS RAPIDLY DESTABILIZED IN ADVANCE OF THE
FRONT AS STRONG/COLD UPPER TROF DROPS RAPIDLY SEWD FROM UPPER MS
VALLEY.  LOW FREEZING LEVELS SUPPORT CONSIDERABLE HAIL WITH STORMS
ALONG WITH DAMAGGING WINDS.


AVIATION...A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT
TO 2 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 65
KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450.  MEAN STORM
MOTION VECTOR 24040.


...HALES

392,0894 422,0881 422,0843 392,0861

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Indiana, 1997Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Illinois, 1997Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Michigan, 1997Every severe thunderstorm watch 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.