A cold front moved into southern Michigan and northern Indiana early in the morning on July 4th. Severe thunderstorms developed along this front over the southern part of lake Michigan and quickly transformed into a bow echo as the system raced southeastward at 50 mph.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS IWX wrote it up.
Synoptic and mesoscale conditions for July 4th...A cold front moved into southern Michigan and northern Indiana early in the morning on July 4th. Severe thunderstorms developed along this front over the southern part of lake Michigan and quickly transformed into a bow echo as the system raced southeastward at 50 mph. Most unstable parcel Cape values exceeded 2500 J/kg. Deep layer shear was impressive but unidirectional as a mid level speed max of 60 knots and left over mesoscale vorticity max moved out of northeast Illinois that morning. Deviant storm motions to the southeast produced impressive storm relative helicity values but the elevated nature of the convection and stable boundary layer helped to prevent most of the rear inflow jet momentum from mixing down to the surface. Where the rear flank downdraft was able to mix to the surface... one weak, brief tornado touchdown was observed near Walkerton. As the outflow along the western edge of the bow became stationary... thunderstorms with heavy rain redeveloped and trained southeast producing flash flooding across a few counties.
The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 70 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:30 UTC.
7 thunderstorm wind, 4 flash flood, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
ST JOSEPH COUNTY POLICE REPORTED TORNADO TOUCHDOWN AT ROUTE 104 AND BARLEY ROAD. SHED WAS BLOWN APART AND A BOAT WAS BLOWN ACROSS A FIELD WHICH WAS LATER CONFIRMED BY A NWS EMPLOYEE.
SEVERAL TREES DOWN IN COUNTY WITH SOME MINOR ROOF DAMAGE MAINLY NORTHEAST THROUGH SOUTHEAST OF PLYMOUTH.
NUMEROUS TREES DOWN ALONG WITH POWER OUTAGES.
WIND DAMAGE - POWER LINES DOWN.
POWER LINES DOWN.
WIND DAMAGE - POWER LINES DOWN AT SR-25 AND CR-100 SOUTH AND NEAR ETNA GREEN.
2 TREES DOWN.
POWER LINES DOWN.
COUNTY ROADS UNDER WATER.
HOMES EVACUATED IN PERU WITH WATER UP TO CAR ROOFTOPS. FLOODING IN MACY IN NORTHWEST PART OF COUNTY AS WELL AS IN DENVER AND JUST NORTHWEST OF MEXICO.
MANY COUNTY ROADS UNDER WATER. STATE ROAD 25 IMPASSABLE.
RESIDENCES FLOODED. WATER 1 TO 2 FEET DEEP ON ROADS WITH STALLED VEHICLES.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Indiana in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Indiana, 1998Warnings in Indiana, July 1998
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5654737, 5654845, 5654738, 5654739, 5654740, 5654741, 5654742, 5654743, 5654744, 5654842, 5654843, 5654844.