Alert archive / Massachusetts / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Albany, NY

May 29, 1998Berkshire County, Massachusetts

NWS Albany, NY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 29, 1998, 4:25 PM EDT for Berkshire County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 65 min. 3 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
May 29, 1998, 4:25 PM EDT (20:25 UTC)
Expired
May 29, 1998, 5:30 PM EDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Albany, NY
Area
Whole counties

County Berkshire County, MA

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 29, 4:53 PM EDTThunderstorm WindCheshire, MA
May 29, 5:30 PM EDTThunderstorm WindGreat Barrington, MA
May 29, 5:35 PM EDTHail 0.75Monterey, MA

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 29, 3:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Albany, NY (KALY), launched 12:00Z, 8.4 hours before the alert went out and 62 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 1998-05-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 9 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 1998-05-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 156 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
9 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-198 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1241 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
156 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
75 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

903 
WUUS1 KALB 292024 RRA
SVRALB
MAC003-292130-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
425 PM EDT FRI MAY 29 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBANY NY HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  BERKSHIRE COUNTY IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS

* UNTIL 530 PM EDT

* AT 425 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR AND SPOTTERS
  INDICATE A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO BERKSHIRE
  COUNTY...ESPECIALLY NORTHERN BERKSHIRE COUNTY. 
  THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT ABOUT 45 MILES 
  AN HOUR. THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE A HISTORY OF PRODUCING 
  SIGNIFICANT WIND DAMAGE AND HAIL. TAKE COVER NOW 

* THE STRONGEST SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  JUST SOUTHWEST OF WILLIAMSTOWN AT  435 PM
  ADAMS AT  445 PM
  PITTSFIELD AT 450 PM
  7 MILES NORTH OF WINDSOR AT  455 PM
  LEE AT 505 PM

IF YOU LIVE IN THESE AREAS BE READY TO SEEK SHELTER IN A BASEMENT
OR SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST LEVEL...AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

|42.713  73.504 |42.670  73.286 |42.627  73.069 |42.583  72.851 |42.540  72.633

BLAES /NWSFO ALY

The office that day

Everything else NWS Albany, NY issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 29, 5:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningALYBerkshire35 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Massachusetts, 1998Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1998

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.