Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 62, NWS Northern Indiana
NWS Northern Indiana issued this tornado warning at Jul 3, 1998, 9:08 PM EST for Saint Joseph County, Indiana. It was in force for 52 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
- Jul 3, 1998, 9:08 PM EST (02:08 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 3, 1998, 10:00 PM EST
- In force
- 52 min
- Issued by
- NWS Northern Indiana
- Area
- Whole counties
County Saint Joseph County, IN
The radar
The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 57 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 3, 9:30 PM EST | Tornado F0 | Walkerton, IN | ST JOSEPH COUNTY POLICE REPORTED TORNADO TOUCHDOWN AT ROUTE 104 AND BARLEY ROAD. SHED WAS BLOWN APART AND A BOAT WAS BLOWN ACROSS A FIELD WHICH WAS LATER CONFIRMED BY A NWS EMPLOYEE. |
| Jul 3, 9:38 PM EST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Mishawaka, IN | NUMEROUS TREES DOWN ALONG WITH POWER OUTAGES. |
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 nearest sounding before it
Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 00:00Z, 2.1 hours before the alert went out and 254 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1525 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -73 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1014 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 38 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 26 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 113 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 0.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KFWA 040208 RRA TORFWA INC141-030300- BULLETIN- EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 908 PM EST (908 PM CDT) FRI JUL 3 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTHERN INDIANA HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... ST JOSEPH COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL INDIANA * UNTIL 1000 PM EST * AT 906 PM EST... DOPPLER RADAR AT NORTH WEBSTER INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF SOUTH BEND OR 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF LYDICK MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35 MPH. * SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE... LYDICK ROSELAND SOUTH BEND GRANGER MISHAWAKA IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO... THE SAFEST PLACE IS A BASEMENT. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE.p.. SEEK SAFETY IN AN INTERIOR ROOM AND AVOID WINDOWS. TEH/JLA
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.
NWS Northern Indiana wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Jul 3, 7:57 PM EST, 1 hour 11 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 3, 7:57 PM EST, 1 hour 11 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 757 PM EST FRI JUL 3 1998 00Z MESO ANALYSIS SHOWING CURRENT CONVECTION ACRS N IL AND S LM IN RESPONSE TO SW ENERGY INVOF NE IA SW WI AND SFC COLD FRONT. LOOKS LIKE FAIR PUSH WITH FRONT GIVEN LARGE 3HR PRESSURE FALLS. BEST MOISTURE CONVERGENCE AND HIGHER THETA-E NOW WORKING INTO NW IN. ADAS PUTS FRONT FROM NORTH OF ORD TO OMA WITH BEST INSTABILITY SPREADING EASTWARD. 00Z RAOBS FROM ILX AND DVN INDICATE CAPES 2-3K J/KG. HEAVY RAIN A GOOD BET BASED ON DVN DEEP LYR MOISTURE WITH PW OVER 2 INCHES. SVR WX THREAT WOULD SEEM SLIGHT GIVEN UNIMPRESSIVE SHEAR VALUES BUT MODIFIED NSHARP DOES SHOW MUCH HIGHER SREH VALUES WITH SOUTHEASTWARD MOVING STORMS. THIS INDEED THE CASE WITH CURRENT SEVERE CONVECTIVE CLUSTER NEAR ORD. EXTRAPOLATION OF CURRENT LEADING PRECIP EDGE WOULD PUT IT INTO NW OH COUNTIES CLOSE TO MIDNIGHT. CURRENT FORECAST LOOK TO HAVE PRETTY GOOD HANDLE ON THINGS OTHERWISE. .IWX...NONE. TEH
The office that day
Everything else NWS Northern Indiana issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 3, 8:45 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IWX | LaPorte | 65 min |
| Jul 3, 9:21 PM EST | Tornado Warning | IWX | LaPorte, Marshall, Starke | 49 min |
| Jul 3, 9:35 PM EST | Tornado Warning | IWX | Elkhart | 50 min |
| Jul 3, 9:54 PM EST | Tornado Warning | IWX | Kosciusko | 66 min |
| Jul 3, 10:25 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IWX | LaGrange, Noble | 65 min |
| Jul 3, 10:29 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IWX | Elkhart | 21 min |
| Jul 3, 10:49 PM EST | Tornado Warning | IWX | Wabash | 46 min |
| Jul 3, 10:51 PM EST | Tornado Warning | IWX | Fulton, Miami | 49 min |
| Jul 3, 11:00 PM EST | Tornado Warning | IWX | Huntington, Whitley | 50 min |
| Jul 3, 11:27 PM EST | Tornado Warning | IWX | Cass, Miami | 48 min |
| Jul 3, 11:35 PM EST | Tornado Warning | IWX | Wabash | 50 min |
| Jul 3, 11:50 PM EST | Tornado Warning | IWX | Huntington | 35 min |
| Jul 3, 11:57 PM EST | Tornado Warning | IWX | Miami | 48 min |
| Jul 4, 12:25 AM EST | Tornado Warning | IWX | Grant | 65 min |
| Jul 4, 1:21 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | IWX | Cass, Fulton, Miami | 3 hr |
| Jul 4, 4:34 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | IWX | Cass, Fulton, Miami | 2 hr |
| Jul 4, 6:35 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | IWX | Cass, Fulton, Miami |
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.