Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Paducah, KY

April 7, 1998Pike County, Indiana

NWS Paducah, KY issued this tornado warning at Apr 7, 1998, 9:41 PM EST for Pike County, Indiana. It was in force for 49 min. 1 report 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: Apr 7, 1998, 9:41 PM EST (02:41 UTC)
Expired: Apr 7, 1998, 10:30 PM EST
In force: 49 min
Issued by: NWS Paducah, KY
Area: Whole counties

County Pike County, IN

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 7, 9:51 PM EST	Tornado F0	Petersburg, IN	A weak, short-lived tornado was confirmed by law enforcement personnel near the intersection of State Routes 56 and 61. The tornado apparently occurred in open fields and caused no reported damage.

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
Apr 7, 4:15 PM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 00:00Z, 2.7 hours before the alert went out and 228 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 756 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 671 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 75 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 185 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.4
Supercell composite: 2.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KPAH 080242 RRA
TORPAH
INC125-080330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
941 PM CDT (941 PM EST) TUE APR 7 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PADUCAH HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 PM EST (1030 PM CDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHWESTERN INDIANA

   ...PIKE COUNTY

A TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO MOVE THROUGH OR NEAR PETERSBURG BY 1010 PM
CDT (1010 PM EST).

AT 940 PM CDT DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO JUST EAST OF
PRINCETON...NEAR FRANCISCO...OR 25 MILES NORTH OF EVANSVILLE.

MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN
THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTRER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR. AVOID WINDOWS AND DOORS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR
A STURDIER BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT. BEWARE OF
RISING WATER.

PS/DH

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 Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Apr 7, 1:25 PM EST, 8 hours 16 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 7, 1:25 PM EST, 8 hours 16 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
125 PM CDT TUE APR 7 1998

SURFACE MAP AT 07/17Z SHOWED LOW PRESSURE NEAR MKC WITH VERTICALLY
STACKED UPPER LOW (WELL DEFINED ON WATER VAPOR IMAGERY). VIS LOOP
AND SFC MAP SHOWS DRIER AIR WORKING EAST ACROSS SOUTHERN MISSOURI
AND WESTERN ARKANSAS. TO THE EAST OVER OUR AREA THE AIRMASS IS
DESTABLIZING...BUT NOTHING ON 88D ATTM. MAIN FCST ISSUES INCLUDE IS
THERE ANY CHC FOR CONVECTION THIS EVENING...THEN TSTMS/SHOWERS AGAIN
WEDNESDAY.

ETA DID A LITTLE BETTER JOB WITH LOW-TROP MSTR (NOT AS AGGRESSIVE AS
THE NGM)...BUT IS STILL A LITTLE TO HIGH WITH SFC DWPTS. WILL
COMPROMISE WITH ETA/NGM AND REALITY. FCST SOUNDINGS FROM BOTH THE
ETA/MESOETA FOR WESTERN KY SHOWED LARGE SCALE DRYING TO CONTINUE
THROUGH THE AFTERNOON...WITH MSTR FAIRLY SHALLOW AROUND 3-5K. DESPITE
SOME INSTABILITY...LACK OF SUFFICIENT MSTR LIKELY A BIG HINDRANCE TO
TSTM DEVELOPMENT FOR THE REST OF THE DAY...ESP SOUTHERN 2/3 OF FA.
STILL CANNOT COUNT OUT VERY SMALL CHC WITH BEST THREAT LIKELY NORTH
1/3 WHERE K-INDICES FCST TO STILL BE AROUND 20-24 THIS AFTERNOON.
ADAP BEST MOISTURE FLUX CONVERGENCE FROM NW KENTUCKY TO ST.
LOUIS...AND THIS AREA TO KEEP AN EYE ON.

FOR TONIGHT...LOW TROP DRYING CONTINUES...AND OVERALL SHOULD BE
MOSTLY CLEAR EVENTUALLY. BELIEVE DWPTS WILL LOWER A LITTLE...AND
MINS SHOULD BE BETWEEN FWC/FAN.

FOR WEDNESDAY...SECOND SHORTWAVE FORECAST TO MOVE FROM TEXAS
PANHANDLE TO NORTHWEST ARKANSAS. THIS WILL ALLOW FOR BETTER HEIGHT
FALLS AND MID LEVEL CAA...WHILE LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE BECOMES
ESTABLISHED BACK ACROSS THE CWFA. DECENT VERTICAL MOTION FIELD FCST
TO DEVELOP...BOUNDARY ACROSS EAST MISSOURI TO NORTHEAST ARKANSAS.
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY...ESP TOWARD THE END OF THE DAY.
OTHERWISE...RETURN MSTR H9-H8 COULD MEAN SOME LOWER CLOUDS DVLPG
EARLIER IN THE DAY. ETA NOT AS AGGRESSIVE AS NGM...THINK AVERAGE
PARTLY CLOUDY GOOD CALL FOR NOW. AGAIN WOULD SPLIT FAN/FWC.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Paducah, KY issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 7, 9:19 PM EST	Tornado Warning	PAH	Gibson	31 min
Apr 7, 10:14 PM EST	Tornado Warning	PAH	Gibson, Pike	61 min
Apr 7, 11:56 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PAH	Pike	34 min
Apr 8, 5:57 PM EST	Tornado Warning	PAH	Spencer	33 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Indiana, 1998 Every tornado warning in 1998 Tornadoes 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.