Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 81, NWS Northern Indiana
NWS Northern Indiana issued this tornado warning at Aug 25, 1998, 1:47 AM EDT for Berrien County, Cass County, Michigan. It was in force for 48 min. 5 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
- Aug 25, 1998, 1:47 AM EDT (05:47 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 25, 1998, 2:35 AM EDT
- In force
- 48 min
- Issued by
- NWS Northern Indiana
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Berrien County, MI, Cass County, MI
The radar
The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 75 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:46 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 25, 1:52 AM EDT | Hail 1.75 | St Joseph, MI | |
| Aug 25, 2:00 AM EDT | Tornado F1 | Niles, MI | EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO TREES ACROSS THE CITY WHICH BLOCKED 15 SEPARATE STREETS AT ONE TIME. 60 HOMES DAMAGED SUSTAINED MINOR TO SEVERE STRUCTURAL DAMAGE. MANY VEHICLES WERE DAMAGED OR DESTROYED BY FALLEN TREES AND LIMBS. SEVERAL POWER POLES AND LINES TAKEN OUT. T |
| Aug 25, 2:10 AM EDT | Tornado F2 | Edwardsburg, MI | ONE MOBILE HOME WAS COMPLETELY DEMOLISHED ON SOUTH SIDE OF JUNO LAKE AND SEVERAL OTHER HOMES AROUND JUNO, PAINTER, EAGLE AND CHRISTAN LAKE SUFFERED MINOR TO MODERATE STRUCTURAL DAMAGE. AN RV WAS TOSSED ABOUT AND ROTATED 180 DEGREES WHICH CAUSED MAJOR DAMAGE. |
| Aug 25, 2:15 AM EDT | Tornado F1 | Adamsville, MI | THE TORNADO HAD WEAKENED AS IT PASSED JUST EAST OF ADAMSVILLE. IT STILL CAUSED EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO SEVERAL FARMS ALONG AND PRIMARILY SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 12.SEVERAL HOMES AND VEHICLES SUSTAINED MAJOR DAMAGE DUE TO FALLEN TREES. |
| Aug 25, 2:32 AM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 52 | Cassopolis, MI |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 25, 1:00 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Detroit, MI (KDTX), launched 00:00Z, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 245 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
- 1480 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -7 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1317 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 41 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 52 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 1.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
823 WFUS53 KIWX 250550 RRA TORFWA MIC021-027-250635- BULLETIN- EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 1247 AM EST (1247 AM CDT) TUE AUG 25 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTHERN INDIANA HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... BERRIEN COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN LOWER MICHIGAN CASS COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN LOWER MICHIGAN * UNTIL 235 AM EDT (135 AM EST) * AT 146 AM EDT... DOPPLER RADAR AT NORTH WEBSTER INDICATED A TORNADO 9 MILES NORTHWEST OF DOWAGIAC OR 4 MILES NORTHWEST OF INDIAN LAKE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 45 MPH. * SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE... INDIAN LAKE DOWAGIAC TWIN LAKES CASSOPOLIS VANDALIA MARCELLUS 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.
NWS Northern Indiana wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Aug 24, 10:00 PM EDT, 3 hours 47 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 24, 10:00 PM EDT, 3 hours 47 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 900 PM EST MON AUG 24 1998 LATEST KIWX RADAR SHOWING NARROW LINE OF SHRA MOVING TOWARD NW CWA. 00Z SFC ANALYSIS PLACES WEAKLY DEFINED FRONT ALONG WHERE THESE SHRA ARE POPPING UP AND TRAILING BACK THRU S WI AND THEN DOWN THRU E IA. 18Z ETA SHOWING SHORT WAVE MOVING ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT FROM N IL AT 06Z TO N IN BY 09Z AND THEN OVER TO NW OH AT 12Z. GOOD THETAE RIDGE IN PLACE ACROSS OUR AREA AND STRONG UVV FIELD PROGGED TO MOVE ACROSS 06-12Z AS WELL. 21Z RUC2 ALSO MATCHES UP WITH 18Z ETA IN PLACING GOOD UVV AND CONVECTIVE PRECIP OVER THE AREA BY 09Z. WITH THAT IN MIND WILL STICK WITH GOING FCST IN NORTHERN GROUP AS SPC STILL HAS US IN A SLIGHT RISK ALTHOUGH THE MDT RISK IS SHIFTED BACK OVER N IL. WILL BACK OFF IN SOUTHERN GROUP TO 50 POP AND REMOVE ENHANCED WORDING. JAL
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Aug 25, 12:40 AM EDT, 1 hour 7 minutes before
INZ003>009-012>018-020-022>027-MIZ077>081-OHZ001-002-004-005- 015-016-024-025-250635- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA 1139 PM EST (1139 PM CDT) MON AUG 24 1998 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 799 UNTIL 600 AM EST/700 AM EDT... THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES ARE INCLUDED IN THIS WATCH... IN SOUTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN... BERRIEN... CASS... ST JOSEPH... BRANCH... HILLSDALE IN NORTHERN INDIANA... LAPORTE... ST JOSEPH... ELKHART... LAGRANGE... STEUBEN... STARKE... MARSHALL... KOSCIUSKO... WHITLEY... ALLEN... PULASKI... FULTON... WHITE... CASS... MIAMI... WABASH... HUNTINGTON... WELLS... ADAMS IN NORTHWEST OHIO... WILLIAMS... FULTON... DEFIANCE... HENRY... PAULDING... PUTNAM... VAN WERT... ALLEN STRONG GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING... HEAVY RAINFALL AND HAIL MAY ACCOMPANY THE STRONGER STORMS. JAH
Local storm report, Aug 25, 1:41 AM EDT, 6 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
1241 AM EST TUE AUG 25 1998
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1238 AM BENTON CENTER MI .75 INCH HAIL
08/25/98 BERRIEN HAM REPORTLocal storm report, Aug 25, 1:41 AM EDT, 6 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
1241 AM EST TUE AUG 25 1998
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1238 AM BENTON CENTER MI .75 INCH HAIL
08/25/98 BERRIEN HAM REPORTLocal storm report, Aug 25, 1:45 AM EDT, 2 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORR TO LOCATION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
1241 AM EST TUE AUG 25 1998
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1238 AM BENTON HARBOR MI .75 INCH HAIL
08/25/98 BERRIEN HAM REPORTThe office that day
Everything else NWS Northern Indiana issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 25, 1:12 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IWX | Berrien | 48 min |
| Aug 25, 1:19 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IWX | Cass | 61 min |
| Aug 25, 1:33 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IWX | Saint Joseph | 52 min |
| Aug 25, 1:58 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IWX | Branch | 52 min |
| Aug 25, 2:17 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | IWX | Branch | 48 min |
| Aug 25, 2:22 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IWX | Saint Joseph | 33 min |
| Aug 25, 2:52 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IWX | Hillsdale | 53 min |
| Aug 25, 3:22 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | IWX | Berrien | 48 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Michigan, 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.