Ryan Witek
Enthusiast
Somewhere in my files I've got a post on sci.geo.meteorology from that day... Purdue had just started back up, and we had a few ready to chase NW Indiana. Severe weather was likely that day, but the low became so intense that all the convergence occurred near the low itself and nothing along any of the fronts. As I recall, that was the only storm of the day, so too far away.
The only people "chasing" were public safety officials, and everyone either 1) didn't recognize it as a tornado or 2) assumed notifications were occurring upstream so 3) never reported it.
Unfortunately, the Plainfield Tornado was an example of when we were collectively caught off guard... Between the lack of a warning from NWS until the storm had passed and the fact that it was a warm, sunny August afternoon, it's safe to assume that most people weren't exactly looking to the skies that day.
Adding onto your note about the "chasing" that happened that day - this is something that we need to constantly be wary of. Despite the tornado likely being rain-wrapped, it is likely someone (civilian or other) saw the storm, perhaps in its early stages. We all know the storm was big - and I think we can all relate to the thought "Oh goodness that thing is massive..! No way that nobody else has reported it yet..." and thus failing to report the storm. Long story short, its the bystander effect. And unfortunately, on that day, it may have cost lives.
Hopefully, with communities like the one here at StormTrack will help educate people to know better - sometimes it is better to get too many reports on a storm than not enough. If this sort of storm were ever to occur again, I'm one person who would really appreciate a heads up!