Alert archive / Indiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 26, NWS Indianapolis, IN

May 19, 1998Vermillion County, Indiana

NWS Indianapolis, IN issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 19, 1998, 5:24 PM EST for Vermillion County, Indiana. It was in force for 36 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
May 19, 1998, 5:24 PM EST (22:24 UTC)
Expired
May 19, 1998, 6:00 PM EST
In force
36 min
Issued by
NWS Indianapolis, IN
Area
Whole counties

County Vermillion County, IN

The radar

The Indianapolis radar (KIND), 102 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:25 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 19, 5:25 PM ESTThunderstorm WindRileysburg, INTrees and power lines blown down.

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 nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 12:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 102 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 1998-05-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1768 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 1998-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 134 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1768 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-211 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1007 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
134 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
108 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.

119 
WUUS1 KIND 192225 RRA
SVRIND
INC165-192300-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
524 PM EST TUE MAY 19 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN INDIANAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  VERMILLION COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL INDIANA

* UNTIL 600 PM EST

* AT 525 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 25 MILES NORTHWEST OF TERRE HAUTE NEAR
  RANDALL...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  HILLSDALE AT 535 PM
  NEWPORT AT 535 PM

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM STAY INDOORS AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

KH

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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, May 19, 1:31 PM EST, 3 hours 53 minutes before
INZ001>004-010>015-019>023-028>031-200000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
131 PM EST TUE MAY 19 1998

IN INDIANA...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL
700 PM EST...AND INCLUDES THAT PART OF INDIANA NORTH OF A LINE FROM
NEAR DANVILLE ILLINOIS TO KOKOMO AND WEST OF A LINE FROM KOKOMO TO
SOUTH BEND.

SOME CITIES INCLUDED ARE GARY...SOUTH BEND...RENSSELAER...
LOGANSPORT...LAFAYETTE...KOKOMO AND FRANKFORT.

REMEMBER...A WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE WEATHER
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.

ZIMMERMAN
Special weather statement, May 19, 3:29 PM EST, 1 hour 55 minutes before
INZ001>004-010>015-019>023-028>031-200000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
329 PM EST TUE MAY 19 1998

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 700 PM EST/CDT
FOR THAT PART OF INDIANA NORTH OF A LINE FROM NEAR DANVILLE ILLINOIS
TO KOKOMO AND WEST OF A LINE FROM KOKOMO TO SOUTH BEND.

THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING OVER NORTHERN ILLINOIS AND EXTREME
NORTHWEST INDIANA...AND WILL MOVE INTO THE REST OF THE NORTHWEST
QUARTER OF INDIANA LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING. SOME OF
THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE...AND PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND/OR
DAMAGING WINDS.

AT 327 PM EST...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 25 MILES NORTHWEST
OF LAFAYETTE NEAR FOWLER. THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT
20 MPH.

CONTINUE TO LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS THROUGH
THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

ZIMMERMAN

The office that day

Everything else NWS Indianapolis, IN issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 19, 5:06 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDWarren39 min
May 19, 5:33 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningINDFountain32 min
May 19, 6:13 PM ESTTornado WarningINDFountain32 min
May 19, 6:17 PM ESTTornado WarningINDVermillion33 min
May 19, 6:50 PM ESTTornado WarningINDParke45 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Indiana, 1998Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1998

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.