Alert archive / Indiana / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 81, NWS Northern Indiana

June 18, 1998Elkhart County, Kosciusko County, Indiana; Saint Joseph County, Michigan

NWS Northern Indiana issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 18, 1998, 10:39 PM EST for Elkhart County, Kosciusko County, Indiana; Saint Joseph County, Michigan. It was in force for 46 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: Jun 18, 1998, 10:39 PM EST (03:39 UTC)
Expired: Jun 18, 1998, 11:25 PM EST
In force: 46 min
Issued by: NWS Northern Indiana
Area: Whole counties

Counties Elkhart County, IN, Kosciusko County, IN, Saint Joseph County, MI

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jun 18, 10:55 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind 52	Wakarusa, IN
Jun 18, 10:55 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind	Barbee, IN	TREE LIMBS AND POWER LINES 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jun 18, 7:30 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Detroit, MI (KDTX), launched 00:00Z, 3.7 hours before the alert went out and 229 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: 440 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -144 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1528 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 49 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 154 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 2.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

871 
WUUS53 KIWX 190340 RRA
SVRFWA
INC039-085-MIC149-190415-

BULLETIN- EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
1039 PM EST THU JUN 18 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTHERN INDIANA HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  ST JOSEPH COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN LOWER MICHIGAN
  ELKHART COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL INDIANA
  KOSCIUSKO COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL INDIANA

* UNTIL 1225 AM EDT (1125 PM EST)

* AT 1136 PM EDT (1029 PM EST)... DOPPLER RADAR AT NORTH WEBSTER
  INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM
  CASSOPOLIS TO JUST WEST OF ELKHART TO PLYMOUTH MOVING EAST
  AT 40 MPH.
  THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT...

  THREE RIVERS
  ELKHART
  GOSHEN
  WARSAW

SEEK SHELTER INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING AWAY FROM WINDOWS.  SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DESTRUCTIVE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.

JAH/BFO

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.

NWS Northern Indiana wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jun 18, 9:45 AM EST, 12 hours 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 18, 9:45 AM EST, 12 hours 54 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
945 AM EST THU JUN 18 1998

12Z SFC ANALYSIS SHOWING LOW PRESSURE CENTER OVER ND WITH WARM FRONT
EXTENDING FROM W IA THRU CENTRAL IL AND DOWN TO W KY. LATEST KIWX
RADAR SHOWING LIGHT SHRA NEAR CHI DOWN THRU CMI. MODIFIED 12Z
SOUNDING FROM ILX SHOWING GOOD INSTABILITY WITH 4400 CAPE AND -11 LI
BUT ALSO STRONG CAP. PLENTY OF CLOUD COVER INDICATED OVER EASTERN
HALF OF IL SHOULD KEEP TE>MPS DOWN A BIT. A MIX OF CLOUDS AND SUN
AROUND OUR CWA AT 14Z WITH CURRENT TEMPS RUNNING 72-79. IF
CLOUDS OVER E IL SPREAD OVER INTO CWA TEMPS IN CURRENT FCST
SHOULD HOLD SO NO PLANS FOR UPDATE IN SW LOWER MI ATTM.

.IWX...NONE.

JAL

The office that day

Everything else NWS Northern Indiana issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 18, 10:02 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	LaPorte	33 min
Jun 18, 10:11 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Cass, Fulton, White	34 min
Jun 18, 10:11 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Saint Joseph	34 min
Jun 18, 10:11 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Marshall	34 min
Jun 18, 11:09 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	LaGrange, Noble	41 min
Jun 18, 11:46 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Huntington, Noble, Whitley	49 min
Jun 18, 11:59 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	DeKalb, Steuben	46 min
Jun 19, 12:09 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Allen, Wells	46 min
Jun 19, 12:32 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Adams, Jay	48 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Indiana, 1998 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Michigan, 1998 Every 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.