Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 82, NWS Northern Indiana

August 25, 1998Elkhart County, Saint Joseph County, Indiana

NWS Northern Indiana issued this tornado warning at Aug 25, 1998, 1:07 AM EST for Elkhart County, Saint Joseph County, Indiana. It was in force for 48 min. 4 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, 1:07 AM EST (06:07 UTC)
Expired
Aug 25, 1998, 1:55 AM EST
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Northern Indiana
Area
Whole counties

Counties Elkhart County, IN, Saint Joseph County, IN

The radar

The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 42 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:06 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
Aug 25, 1:25 AM ESTThunderstorm WindSouth Bend, INTHE DOORS WERE BLOWN OFF A SQUAD CAR. NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES WERE DOWN ACROSS TOWN AND ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE EASTERN THIRD OF THE COUNTY. ONE TREE FELL ONTO A HOME ALONG AUTEN ROAD WHICH CAUSED MODERATE STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO THE HOME.
Aug 25, 1:30 AM ESTTornado F0Bristol, INTHIS WAS THE SAME TORNADO WHICH BEGAN IN NILES EARLIER. DAMAGE WAS EXTENSIVE TO TREES AND POWER LINES FROM THE ELKHART/CASS COUNTY LINE TO THE TOWN OF BRISTOL. SOME HOMES SUFFERED MAINLY MINOR DAMAGE TO SIDING...ROOFS AND GUTTERS. SOME OUTBUILDINGS HOWEVER WER
Aug 25, 1:35 AM ESTTornado F1Dunlap, INTHIS TORNADO LIKELY FORMED ALONG THE LEADING EDGE OF THE BOW ECHO WHICH PASSED THROUGH BERRIEN AND ST. JOSEPH COUNTIES EARLIER. IT TOUCHED DOWN ON TOP OF THE FORD DEALERSHIP ALONG HIGHWAY 33 TEARING OFF A LARGE PART OF THE ROOF AND ONE WALL. NEXT IT THREW A FO
Aug 25, 1:35 AM ESTThunderstorm WindElkhart, INEXTENSIVE TREE AND POWER LINE DAMAGE OCCURRED ACROSS THE ENTIRE COUNTY. SEVERAL BUILDINGS AND CARS IN DOWNTOWN GOSHEN SUSTAINED MINOR TO MODERATE STRUCTURAL DAMAGE DUE TO LARGE TREES AND LIMBS CRASHING DOWN. BUSINESSES ON THE EAST SIDE OF GOSHEN ALONG HIGHWAY

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
Aug 25, 12:00 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Detroit, MI (KDTX), launched 00:00Z, 6.1 hours before the alert went out and 251 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 00:00Z on 1998-08-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1480 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, Detroit, MI at 00:00Z on 1998-08-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 41 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

913 
WFUS53 KIWX 250610 RRA
TORFWA
INC039-141-250655-

BULLETIN- EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
107 AM EST (107 AM CDT) TUE AUG 25 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTHERN INDIANA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN ELKHART COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL INDIANA
  NORTHEASTERN ST JOSEPH COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL INDIANA

* UNTIL 155 AM EST

* AT 106 AM EST... DOPPLER RADAR AT NORTH WEBSTER INDICATED A
  TORNADO 3 MILES NORTHWEST OF ELKHART MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE...
  ELKHART
  DUNLAP
  BRISTOL
  GOSHEN
  ALONG THE INDIANA TOLL ROAD

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

TEH/JAL

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 25, 1:26 AM ESTTornado WarningIWXLaGrange49 min
Aug 25, 1:31 AM ESTTornado WarningIWXElkhart34 min
Aug 25, 1:52 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXSteuben53 min
Aug 25, 1:58 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXDeKalb, Noble47 min
Aug 25, 2:22 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningIWXLaPorte48 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.