Indiana, 1998

Tornadoes and Hail in Indiana, June 11, 1998

June 11, 1998 · NWS IWX · 13 events in 9 counties and zones

Morning sfc and upper air analysis revealed a potent upper short wave trough across North Dakota with an intensifying area of sfc low pressure across southwest Kansas. An unseasonably strong 140 knot jet streak was ejecting out of this trough across Kansas with the left front exit region progged into central Indiana after 18Z.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
5
Property damage
$3.8 million
Crop damage
$100,000
Events
13

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS IWX wrote it up.

Synoptic and mesoscale conditions for June 11, 1998...Morning sfc and upper air analysis revealed a potent upper short wave trough across North Dakota with an intensifying area of sfc low pressure across southwest Kansas. An unseasonably strong 140 knot jet streak was ejecting out of this trough across Kansas with the left front exit region progged into central Indiana after 18Z. Increasing moisture convergence and theta-e advection along the northward lifting warmfront was seen as 850 mb winds were forecast to increase to 55 knots. By 21Z, the sfc low had moved into eastern Iowa and deepened to 994 mb. The prestorm enviornment was characterized by moderate to extreme instability (LI values -7 to -9 and CAPE values in excess of 2000 J/kg) with temperatures in the lower 80s and dewpoints in the low/mid 70s. This combined with a dry punch at 700mb and deep layer shear along the warm front, where storm relative helicity values increased to 400 M2/S2, lay the foundation for an outbreak of damaging tornadoes across Indiana.

The radar

The Northern Indiana radar (KIWX), 105 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:02 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

6 tornado, 4 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Pulaski

When
June 11, 6:03 PM EST
Where
Pulaski County, Medaryville
Measured
1.75 in hail
Coordinates
41.080, -86.900

TIME ESTIMATED

Hail, Pulaski

When
June 11, 6:15 PM EST
Where
Pulaski County, 4 mi S of Denham
Measured
0.75 in hail
Coordinates
41.100, -86.720

Tornado, Pulaski

When
June 11, 6:28 PM EST
Where
Pulaski County, Ripley to Monterey
Rating
F2
Path length
9 mi
Path width
100 yd
Injuries
1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$1.0 million
Crop damage
$100,000
Coordinates
41.100, -86.670

4 TRAILER HOMES DESTROYED, SEVERAL OTHERS SUFFERED MINOR TO MAJOR DAMAGE, ONE HOME AND BARN DESTROYED, SEVERAL OTHER HOMES SUFFERED MODERATE DAMAGE. TORNADO STARTED IN RIPLEY AND TRACKED EAST NORTHEAST TO MONTEREY BEFORE IT LIFTED. EXTENSIVE TREE DAMAGE OCCURRED ALONG THE TORNADOES PATH.

Thunderstorm Wind, Starke

When
June 11, 6:34 PM EST
Where
Starke County, 2 mi S of Bass Lake
Coordinates
41.180, -86.580

NUMEROUS TREE LIMBS DOWN

Thunderstorm Wind, Marshall

When
June 11, 7:03 PM EST
Where
Marshall County, 3 mi SW of Plymouth
Coordinates
41.320, -86.350

NUMEROUS TREE LIMBS DOWN

Tornado, Grant

When
June 11, 7:21 PM EST
Where
Grant County, 3 mi SW of Swayzee
Rating
F1
Path length
6 mi
Path width
100 yd
Property damage
$500,000
Coordinates
40.470, -85.870

THIS TORNADO WAS A CONTINUATION OF THE GREENTOWN TORNADO IN HOWARD COUNTY. THE TORNADO WAS WEAKENING AS IT CROSSED INTO GRANT COUNTY BUT CAUSED EXTENSIVE TREE DAMAGE ALONG ITS PATH AND SEVERLY DAMAGED SEVERAL HOMES IN SWAYZEE. MANY OF THE HOMES SUFFERED DAMAGE FROM UPROOTED TREES FALLING ON THEM. MANY TREES AND POWER LINES WERE REPORTED DOWN FROM THIS SERIES OF STORMS. IN ADDITION...VERY HEAVY RAIN CAUSED FLASH FLOODING ACROSS THE COUNTY WITH MANY COUNTY ROADS WASHED OUT OR UNDER WATER.

Tornado, Kosciusko

When
June 11, 7:33 PM EST
Where
Kosciusko County, Etna Green to 3 mi NE of Etna Green
Rating
F1
Path length
2 mi
Path width
100 yd
Injuries
4 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage
$800,000
Coordinates
41.320, -86.020

THIS WAS ANOTHER TORNADO SPAWNED FROM THE SAME TORNADIC SUPERCELL THAT CAUSED DAMAGE IN PULASKI COUNTY EARLIER IN THE EVENING. 30 MOBILE HOMES AT THE MIKEL MOBILE ESTATES WERE DAMAGED, MANY SEVERELY. SOME WERE SIMPLY OVERTURNED WHILE OTHERS WERE COMPLETELY FLATTENED. 4 PEOPLE SUSTAINED MINOR INJURIES.

Thunderstorm Wind, Elkhart

When
June 11, 7:49 PM EST
Where
Elkhart County, New Paris
Coordinates
41.500, -85.830

NUMEROUS TREE LIMBS DOWN

Tornado, Grant

When
June 11, 7:58 PM EST
Where
Grant County, 3 mi SE of Fairmount
Rating
F1
Path length
4 mi
Path width
200 yd
Property damage
$1.0 million
Coordinates
40.380, -85.620

THIS TORNADO TRACK WAS A CONTINUATION OF THE TORNADO WHICH BEGAN NEAR THE TOWN OF ELWOOD IN MADISON COUNTY. THE TORNADO WAS WEAKENING AS IT CROSSED INTO GRANT COUNTY BUT CAUSED EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO SEVERAL FARMS. ONE FARMSTEAD SUFFERED A DESTROYED BARN AND AN OVERTURNED JUNK BUS. ANOTHER FARMSTEAD HAD A VERY LARGE METAL OUTBUILDING DESTROYED AND 3 LARGE SILOS WERE BLOWN INTO THE FARM HOUSE WHICH SUFFERED MAJOR DAMAGE. ANOTHER FARM LOST MOST OF ITS OUTBUILDINGS WITH THE ROOF OF THE HOUSE DAMAGED. ANOTHER FARM NEAR FAIRMOUNT SUFFERED SEVERE DAMAGE WITH 2 BARNS DESTROYED AND THE HOUSE LOST ITS ROOF.MANY TREES AND OUTBUILDINGS IN FOWLERTON WERE DAMAGED WERE THE TORNADO FINALLY LIFTED.

Tornado, Wells

When
June 11, 9:34 PM EST
Where
Wells County, Poneto to 2 mi SW of Poneto
Rating
F1
Path length
1 mi
Path width
50 yd
Property damage
$150,000
Coordinates
40.630, -85.230

THIS WAS ONE OF SEVERAL TORNADOES PRODUCED FROM THE SAME SUPERCELL THAT DEVELOPED ACROSS HOWARD COUNTY. THIS BRIEF SPINUP CAUSED EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO ALL OUTBUILDINGS ON ONE FARM, 2 FARM HOMES SUFFERED EXTENSIVE DAMAGE, 5 OTHER HOMES SUFFERED MINOR TO MODERATE STRUCTURAL DAMAGE.

Tornado, Jay

When
June 11, 9:40 PM EST
Where
Jay County, Boundary City to 2 mi of Boundary City
Rating
F1
Path length
2 mi
Path width
50 yd
Property damage
$300,000
Coordinates
40.330, -84.950

THIS TORNADO COMPLETELY DESTROYED A NEW MODULAR HOME. RIGHT ACROSS THE ROAD...TWO OTHER HOUSES WERE DAMAGED AND A BARN WAS DESTROYED. SEVERAL OTHER HOMES, AN OLD SCHOOL, AND A CHURCH SUFFERED MINOR TO MODERATE DAMAGE. MANY TREES AND POWER LINES WERE DOWN AS A RESULT OF THIS STORM.

Hail, Adams

When
June 11, 9:55 PM EST
Where
Adams County, Monroe
Measured
0.75 in hail
Coordinates
40.750, -84.930

Thunderstorm Wind, Adams

When
June 11, 9:55 PM EST
Where
Adams County, Monroe
Property damage
$30,000
Coordinates
40.750, -84.930

HIGH WINDS DESTROYED A BARN AND DESTROYED SEVERAL TREES

What these are

Hail
Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
Thunderstorm Wind
Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Indiana in 1998Every state in 1998This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Indiana, 1998Warnings in Indiana, June 1998

Sources

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: 5647350, 5647246, 5647349, 5647352, 5647351, 5647358, 5647452, 5647353, 5647357, 5647354, 5647359, 5647355, 5647356.