Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 18, NWS Northern Indiana

May 31, 1998Allen County, Indiana

NWS Northern Indiana issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1998, 12:49 PM EST for Allen County, Indiana. It was in force for 46 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 31, 1998, 12:49 PM EST (17:49 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1998, 1:35 PM EST
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Northern Indiana
Area
Whole counties

County Allen County, IN

The radar

The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 61 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:50 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 31, 12:15 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 12:00Z, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 214 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 12:00Z on 1998-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1259 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 12:00Z on 1998-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 106 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1259 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-256 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
874 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
106 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
206 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

077 
WFUS53 KIWX 311748 RRA
TORFWA
INC003-311835-

BULLETIN- EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
1249 PM EST SUN MAY 31 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTHERN INDIANA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN ALLEN COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN INDIANA

* UNTIL 135 PM EST

* AT 1247 PM EST... DOPPLER RADAR AT NORTH WEBSTER INDICATED A
  TORNADO 14 MILES NORTH OF FORT WAYNE OR 10 MILES
  NORTHWEST OF HURSH MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE...
  HURSH
  GRABILL
  HARLAN
  LEO
  CEDARVILLE

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

AT 1245 PM A TORNADO WAS ON THE GROUND AT I-69 MILE MARKER 132
NEAR THE DEKALB COUNTY/ALLEN COUNTY LINE.

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, 12:35 PM ESTTornado WarningIWXNoble50 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.