Alert archive / New York / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 22, NWS Albany, NY
NWS Albany, NY issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1998, 8:36 PM EDT for Columbia County, New York; Berkshire County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 54 min. 2 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 31, 1998, 8:36 PM EDT (00:36 UTC)
- Expired
- May 31, 1998, 9:30 PM EDT
- In force
- 54 min
- Issued by
- NWS Albany, NY
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Berkshire County, MA, Columbia County, NY
The radar
The Albany radar (KENX), 61 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:39 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 9:00 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Copake, NY | |
| May 31, 9:00 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | South Lee, 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 8:00 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Brookhaven, NY (KOKX), launched 00:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 167 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 151 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -348 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1224 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 30 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 233 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 319 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- -0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KALB 010038 RRA TORALB NYC021-MAC003-010130- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY 836 PM EDT MAY 31 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBANY NY HAS ISSUED A * TORNDAO WARNING FOR... COLUMBIA COUNTY IN EASTERN NEW YORK BERKSHIRE COUNTY IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS * UNTIL 930 PM EDT * AT 835 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR AND STORM SPOTTERS INDICATE SEVERAL TORNADOES MOVING ACROSS COLUMBIA AND BERKSHIRE COUNTIES. THESE TORNADOES ARE MOVING EAST AT ABOUT 50 MILES AN HOUR. TAKE COVER NOW ! * THE TORNADOES WILL BE NEAR... CLAVERACK-RED MILLS AT 835 PM 5 MILES NORTH OF PITTSFIELD AT 835 PM PHILMONT AT 840 PM WINDSOR AT 845 PM HILLSDALE AT 845 PM GREAT BARRINGTON AT 855 PM 5 MILES NORTH OF SANDISFIELD AT 910 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. |42.207 73.780 |42.207 73.538 |42.208 73.295 |42.208 73.053 |42.208 72.811
The office that day
Everything else NWS Albany, NY issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 8:17 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ALY | Ulster | 73 min |
| May 31, 8:50 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ALY | Dutchess, Ulster | 75 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in New York, 1998Tornado Warnings in Massachusetts, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.