Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Indianapolis, IN

April 7, 1998Fountain County, Parke County, Indiana

NWS Indianapolis, IN issued this tornado warning at Apr 7, 1998, 9:10 PM EST for Fountain County, Parke County, Indiana. It was in force for 50 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 7, 1998, 9:10 PM EST (02:10 UTC)
Expired: Apr 7, 1998, 10:00 PM EST
In force: 50 min
Issued by: NWS Indianapolis, IN
Area: Whole counties

Counties Fountain County, IN, Parke County, IN

The radar

The Indianapolis radar (KIND), 85 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:13 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 7, 9:20 PM EST	Hail 0.75	Kingman, 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 7, 7:00 PM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 00:00Z, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 119 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 756 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 671 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 75 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 185 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.4
Supercell composite: 2.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KIND 080210 RRA
TORIND
INC045-121-080300-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INDIANAPOLIS IN
910 PM EST TUE APR 7 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN INDIANAPOLIS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL INDIANA
 
   ...SOUTHERN FOUNTAIN COUNTY...NORTHERN PARKE COUNTY
 
AT 908 PM EST A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY RADAR NEAR NEWPORT...25 MILES
NORTH OF TERRE HAUTE. AMATEUR RADIO SPOTTERS HAVE REPORTED A FUNNEL
CLOUD BETWEEN NEWPORT AND CAYUGA. BASEBALL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED AT 900
PM IN NEWPORT.
 
THIS TORNADO WILL MOVE TO NEAR KINGMAN AND BLOOMINGDALE BY 920 PM AND TO
NEAR WALLACE AND MARSHALL BY 1000 PM.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABAND"ON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
 
ZIMMERMAN
&

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 7, 7:33 PM EST	Tornado Warning	IND	Hendricks, Marion	42 min
Apr 7, 8:12 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Marion	33 min
Apr 7, 8:16 PM EST	Tornado Warning	IND	Parke, Vermillion	59 min
Apr 7, 8:34 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Hamilton, Hancock, Madison	26 min
Apr 7, 9:26 PM EST	Tornado Warning	IND	Montgomery	49 min
Apr 7, 10:02 PM EST	Tornado Warning	IND	Boone	58 min
Apr 7, 10:14 PM EST	Tornado Warning	IND	Montgomery	46 min
Apr 8, 12:11 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Marion	34 min
Apr 8, 12:18 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Johnson	27 min
Apr 8, 6:45 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IND	Jackson	30 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Indiana, 1998 Every tornado warning in 1998 Tornadoes 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.