Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Northern Indiana

May 31, 1998Noble County, Indiana

NWS Northern Indiana issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1998, 12:35 PM EST for Noble County, Indiana. It was in force for 50 min. 3 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
May 31, 1998, 12:35 PM EST (17:35 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1998, 1:25 PM EST
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Northern Indiana
Area
Whole counties

County Noble County, IN

The radar

The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 24 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:35 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 31, 12:40 PM ESTHail 0.75Albion, IN
May 31, 12:45 PM ESTHail 0.88Kendallville, IN
May 31, 1:10 PM ESTHail 0.75Ligonier, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 31, 12:15 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Detroit, MI (KDTX), launched 12:00Z, 5.6 hours before the alert went out and 220 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, Detroit, MI at 12:00Z on 1998-05-31Temperature 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, Detroit, MI at 12:00Z on 1998-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 0 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
1019 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
0 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
18 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.

039 
WFUS53 KIWX 311734 RRA
TORFWA
INC113-311825-

BULLETIN- EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
1235 PM EST SUN MAY 31 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTHERN INDIANA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NOBLE COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN INDIANA

* UNTIL 125 PM EST

* AT 1234 PM EST... DOPPLER RADAR AT NORTH WEBSTER INDICATED A
  DEVELOPING TORNADO 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF KENDALLVILLE MOVING
  EAST AT 40 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE...
  LIGONIER
  KENDALLVILLE
  ALBION
  AVILLA

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE... SEEK SAFETY IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT... SEEK REFUGE IN A CULVERT... DITCH OR
LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

JAH/TL

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 31, 11:54 AM ESTTornado WarningIWXLaGrange, Steuben36 min
May 31, 12:14 PM ESTTornado WarningIWXDeKalb51 min
May 31, 12:17 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXNoble48 min
May 31, 12:49 PM ESTTornado WarningIWXAllen46 min
May 31, 1:05 PM ESTTornado WarningIWXDeKalb30 min
May 31, 1:07 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXWhitley48 min
May 31, 1:35 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXAllen50 min
May 31, 1:39 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXAllen46 min
May 31, 1:48 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXGrant62 min
May 31, 1:59 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXBlackford46 min
May 31, 2:05 PM ESTTornado WarningIWXBlackford, Grant50 min
May 31, 2:09 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXJay51 min
May 31, 2:31 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXAdams, Wells49 min
May 31, 3:38 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXGrant47 min
May 31, 4:15 PM ESTTornado WarningIWXBlackford35 min
May 31, 4:23 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXJay32 min
May 31, 4:29 PM ESTTornado WarningIWXJay31 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.