Alert archive / Indiana / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 39, NWS Chicago, IL

July 17, 2003Lake County, Newton County, Indiana

NWS Chicago, IL issued this tornado warning at Jul 17, 2003, 7:01 PM CDT for Lake County, Newton County, Indiana. It was in force for 29 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jul 17, 2003, 7:01 PM CDT (00:01 UTC)
Expired: Jul 17, 2003, 7:30 PM CDT
In force: 29 min
Issued by: NWS Chicago, IL
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Lake County, IN, Newton County, IN

The radar

The Chicago radar (KLOT), 71 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:05 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Lincoln, IL (KILX), launched 00:00Z, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 152 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: 2256 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -134 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1630 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 78 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 148 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.1
Supercell composite: 4.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KLOT 180000
TORLOT
INC089-111-180030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHICAGO IL
659 PM CDT THU JUL 17 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHICAGO HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN LAKE COUNTY IN NORTHWEST INDIANA
  NORTHERN NEWTON COUNTY IN NORTHWEST INDIANA

* UNTIL 730 PM CDT

* AT 659 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED STRONG ROTATION IN A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM NEAR 3 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CEDAR LAKE...MOVING SOUTH AT
  30 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE NEAR...
  SCHNEIDER AROUND 710 PM CDT.

WIND DAMAGE HAS BEEN REPORTED IN DYER INDIANA AND A FUNNEL CLOUD 
EAST OF BEECHER. 

DO NOT WAIT UNTIL YOU HEAR OR SEE THE TORNADO. TAKE SHELTER NOW.

LAT...LON 4106 8741 4101 8749 4113 8753 4140 8753
          4146 8739 4121 8729
$$

FISHER

NNNN

The office that day

Everything else NWS Chicago, IL issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 17, 7:00 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LOT	Lake, Newton	30 min
Jul 17, 7:17 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LOT	Lake	4 hr
Jul 17, 7:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LOT	Jasper, Newton	45 min
Jul 17, 8:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LOT	Lake, Porter	45 min
Jul 17, 8:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LOT	Benton	23 min
Jul 17, 10:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LOT	Newton	42 min
Jul 17, 10:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LOT	Benton, Newton	49 min
Jul 17, 10:45 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	LOT	Lake	4 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Indiana, 2003 Every tornado warning in 2003 Tornadoes in 2003

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.