Alert archive / Michigan / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 23, NWS Northern Indiana

October 24, 2001Saint Joseph County, Michigan

NWS Northern Indiana issued this tornado warning at Oct 24, 2001, 4:34 PM EST for Saint Joseph County, Michigan. It was in force for 46 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: Oct 24, 2001, 4:34 PM EST (21:34 UTC)
Expired: Oct 24, 2001, 5:20 PM EST
In force: 46 min
Issued by: NWS Northern Indiana
Area: Whole counties

County Saint Joseph County, MI

The radar

The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 63 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:35 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
Oct 24, 4:40 PM EST	Tornado F1	White Pigeon, MI	Tornado touched down north of the Elkhart/St Joseph Michigan county line southwest of White Pigeon and skipped northeast before lifting north of White pigeon. F1 damage near SR 131 and SR 12 to buildings and high tension wires.
Oct 24, 4:45 PM EST	Tornado F0	Howardsville, MI	This tornado crossed into Berrien county Michigan from St Joseph county Indiana south of Niles (see Storm Data for Indiana, Northeast for more information on the beginning portion of this tornado in Indiana). The tornado tracked northeast across extreme southe
Oct 24, 5:00 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind	Countywide, MI	Law enforcement reported trees down countywide.
Oct 24, 5:10 PM EST	Tornado F1	Colon, MI	Tornado skipped along a 5 mile path. F1 damage included a well constructed barn destroyed with debris thrown about one half mile.

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
Oct 24, 3:15 PM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Detroit, MI (KDTX), launched 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 194 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: 227 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 511 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 105 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 80 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

284 
WFUS53 KIWX 242135
TORFWA
MIC149-242220-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTHERN INDIANA
534 PM EDT WED OCT 24 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTHERN INDIANA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  ST. JOSEPH COUNTY IN MICHIGAN

* UNTIL 620 PM EDT

* AT 534 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  A POSSIBLE TORNADO 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WHITE PIGEON...MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE...
  STURGIS
  CENTREVILLE
  MENDON
  BURR OAK
  COLON

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. IF NO
BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY. THEY
WILL RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST
OFFICE IN NORTHERN INDIANA.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 24, 3:46 PM EST	Tornado Warning	IWX	Berrien, Cass	59 min
Oct 24, 5:16 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	IWX	Branch	44 min
Oct 24, 5:28 PM EST	Tornado Warning	IWX	Hillsdale	62 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Michigan, 2001 Every tornado warning in 2001 Tornadoes in 2001

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.