Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 14, NWS Northern Indiana

May 19, 1998Wabash County, Indiana

NWS Northern Indiana issued this tornado warning at May 19, 1998, 7:15 PM EST for Wabash County, Indiana. It was in force for 25 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 19, 1998, 7:15 PM EST (00:15 UTC)
Expired
May 19, 1998, 7:40 PM EST
In force
25 min
Issued by
NWS Northern Indiana
Area
Whole counties

County Wabash County, IN

The radar

The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 58 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:19 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.

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 19, 6:00 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 00:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 231 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 1998-05-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1270 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 1998-05-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 16 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
1270 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-29 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1675 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
16 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
49 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

784 
WFUS53 KIWX 200016 RRA
TORFWA
INC169-200040-

BULLETIN- EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
715 PM EST TUE MAY 19 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTHERN INDIANA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WABASH COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL INDIANA

* UNTIL 740 PM EST

* AT 713 PM EST... DOPPLER RADAR AT NORTH WEBSTER INDICATED A
  TORNADO 9 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF NORTH MANCHESTER OR 2 MILES
  NORTHEAST OF LAGRO MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* THIS TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN OVER RURAL AREAS BETWEEN NORTH
  MANCHESTER AND LAGRO.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM ACT QUICKLY. SEEK SHELTER IN AN
INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

TEH/JAL

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, May 19, 6:48 PM EST, 27 minutes before
OHZ004-005-015-016-024-025-200450-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
648 PM EST TUE MAY 19 1998

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR MUCH OF NORTHWEST
OHIO...TO BE IN EFFECT UNTIL 1AM EDT.

SOME COMMUNITIES INLCUDED IN THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH ARE
DEFIANCE...PAULDING...AND OTTAWA.

THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION WITH TORRENTIAL RAIN AND
ESPECIALLY FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

REMEMBER...TORNADOES CAN AND SOMETIMES DO COME OUT OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY LITTLE WARNING.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN AND
DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.  STAY
INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.
Special weather statement, May 19, 6:48 PM EST, 27 minutes before
OHZ004-005-015-016-024-025-200450-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
648 PM EST TUE MAY 19 1998

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR MUCH OF NORTHWEST
OHIO...TO BE IN EFFECT UNTIL 1AM EDT.

SOME COMMUNITIES INLCUDED IN THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH ARE
DEFIANCE...PAULDING...AND OTTAWA.

THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION WITH TORRENTIAL RAIN AND
ESPECIALLY FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

REMEMBER...TORNADOES CAN AND SOMETIMES DO COME OUT OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY LITTLE WARNING.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN AND
DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.  STAY
INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.
Local storm report, May 19, 6:49 PM EST, 26 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH WEBSTER INDIANA
649 PM EST TUE MAY 19 1998

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0645 PM    URBANA                    IN   TORNADO
05/19/98   WABASH                         REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT ONE HALF MILE
                                          NORTHEAST OF URBANA.
Local storm report, May 19, 7:00 PM EST, 15 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH WEBSTER INDIANA
700 PM EST TUE MAY 19 1998

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0652 PM    URBANA                    IN   90 MPH TSTM GUST
05/19/98   WABASH                         REPORTED BY SHERIFF
Local storm report, May 19, 7:06 PM EST, 9 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH WEBSTER INDIANA
706 PM EST TUE MAY 19 1998

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0705 PM    BIPPUS                    IN   .88 INCH HAIL
05/19/98   HUNTINGTON                     REPORTED BY SHERIFF
Local storm report, May 19, 7:11 PM EST, 4 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH WEBSTER INDIANA
711 PM EST TUE MAY 19 1998

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0707 PM    HUNTINGTON                IN   60 MPH TSTM GUST
05/19/98   HUNTINGTON                     HAM REPORT

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 19, 7:08 PM ESTTornado WarningIWXHuntington47 min
May 19, 8:29 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXAdams16 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Indiana, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.