Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Watches in 1998

Tornado Watch 176

April 7, 199818 counties in Illinois; 29 counties in Indiana; Hancock County, Henderson County, Kentucky

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 7, 1998, 10:00 PM CDT for 18 counties in Illinois; 29 counties in Indiana; Hancock County, Henderson County, Kentucky. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 7, 1998, 10:00 PM CDT (03:00 UTC)
Expired
Apr 8, 1998, 4:00 AM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 49 counties

Clay County, IL, Crawford County, IL, Cumberland County, IL, Edwards County, IL, Effingham County, IL, Franklin County, IL, Hamilton County, IL, Jackson County, IL, Jasper County, IL, Jefferson County, IL, Lawrence County, IL, Marion County, IL, Perry County, IL, Richland County, IL, Wabash County, IL, Washington County, IL, Wayne County, IL, White County, IL, Bartholomew County, IN, Brown County, IN, Clark County, IN, Crawford County, IN, Daviess County, IN, Dearborn County, IN, Dubois County, IN, Floyd County, IN, Gibson County, IN, Greene County, IN, Harrison County, IN, Jackson County, IN, Jefferson County, IN, Jennings County, IN, Knox County, IN, Lawrence County, IN, Martin County, IN, Monroe County, IN, Orange County, IN, Perry County, IN, Pike County, IN, Posey County, IN, Ripley County, IN, Scott County, IN, Spencer County, IN, Sullivan County, IN, Vanderburgh County, IN, Warrick County, IN, Washington County, IN, Hancock County, KY, Henderson County, KY

Warnings issued inside it

18 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 7, 10:01 PM CDTTornado WarningLMKDubois34 min
Apr 7, 10:14 PM CDTTornado WarningPAHGibson, Pike61 min
Apr 7, 10:22 PM CDTTornado WarningILXJasper53 min
Apr 7, 10:27 PM CDTTornado WarningLMKWashington33 min
Apr 7, 10:33 PM CDTTornado WarningILXClay57 min
Apr 7, 10:35 PM CDTTornado WarningLMKOrange25 min
Apr 7, 10:59 PM CDTTornado WarningLMKWashington31 min
Apr 7, 11:09 PM CDTTornado WarningILXCrawford, Jasper51 min
Apr 7, 11:13 PM CDTTornado WarningLMKScott27 min
Apr 7, 11:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKJefferson34 min
Apr 7, 11:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPAHPike34 min
Apr 8, 12:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILNRipley49 min
Apr 8, 12:01 AM CDTTornado WarningLMKJefferson29 min
Apr 8, 12:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKDubois30 min
Apr 8, 12:39 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILNDearborn, Ohio61 min
Apr 8, 12:47 AM CDTTornado WarningLMKJefferson28 min
Apr 8, 1:32 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningILNDearborn118 min
Apr 8, 2:02 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKJefferson33 min

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 00:00Z, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 204 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, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 1998-04-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 756 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Lincoln, IL at 00:00Z on 1998-04-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 75 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
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.

490 
WWUS9 KMKC 080238
SEL6  
MKC WW 080238
ILZ000-INZ000-080900-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 176
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
938 PM CDT TUE APR 7 1998

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   SOUTHERN ILLINOIS                           
   SOUTHERN INDIANA                            

EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING FROM 1000 PM
UNTIL 400 AM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 100 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 45 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF EVANSVILLE INDIANA TO 15
MILES NORTHEAST OF BLOOMINGTON INDIANA.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO WATCH
NUMBER 174.  WATCH NUMBER 174 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 1000 PM
CDT.  CONTINUE...WW 175...

DISCUSSION...A FEW SUPERCELLS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES POSSIBLE LATER
THIS EVENING ALONG AND N OF THE OH RIVER...WHERE LARGE SCALE ASCENT
ASSOCIATED WITH APPROACHING 90 KT MID LEVEL JET STREAK WILL
CONTINUE TO OFFSET DIURNAL BOUNDARY LAYER STABILIZATION.  AREA VWP
DATA CONTINUE TO SUGGEST AMPLE STORM-RELATIVE HELICITY FOR STORM
ROTATION/LEWP DEVELOPMENT.  

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 400. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24040.


...CORFIDI...

374,0900 391,0881 391,0843 374,0862

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 7, 7:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBureau, Cass, Champaign, Christian, Clark, Coles and 27 more6 hr
Apr 8, 5:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCGallatin, Hardin, Massac, Pope, Saline7 hr
Apr 8, 1:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdams, Bartholomew, Blackford, Brown, Dearborn, Decatur and 24 more4 hr
Apr 8, 2:00 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCClark, Jefferson, Switzerland6 hr
Apr 8, 12:15 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCClark, Crawford, Dearborn, Decatur, Fayette, Floyd and 12 more6 hr
Apr 8, 5:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBell, Breathitt, Clay, Estill, Floyd, Harlan and 12 more5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Indiana, 1998Tornado Watches in Illinois, 1998Tornado Watches in Kentucky, 1998Every tornado watch 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.