Alert archive / New York / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Albany, NY

May 31, 1998Albany County, Schenectady County, Schoharie County, New York

NWS Albany, NY issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1998, 4:35 PM EDT for Albany County, Schenectady County, Schoharie County, New York. It was in force for 55 min. 6 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, 4:35 PM EDT (20:35 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1998, 5:30 PM EDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Albany, NY
Area
Whole counties

Counties Albany County, NY, Schenectady County, NY, Schoharie County, NY

The radar

The Albany radar (KENX), 12 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:38 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 31, 4:37 PM EDTTornado F1Colonie, NY
May 31, 4:38 PM EDTThunderstorm WindBethlehem Center, NY
May 31, 4:40 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 71Albany Arpt, NY
May 31, 4:50 PM EDTThunderstorm WindColonie, NY
May 31, 4:50 PM EDTThunderstorm WindRotterdam, NY
May 31, 4:50 PM EDTThunderstorm WindSchenectady, NY

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 31, 3:00 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Albany, NY (KALY), launched 12:00Z, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 27 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 1998-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 1998-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 188 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1673 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
188 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
264 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

056 
WFUS1 KALB 310011
TORALB
NYC001-093-095-312130-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
435 PM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBANY NY HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  ALBANY      COUNTY IN EASTERN NEW YORK
  SCHOHARIE   COUNTY IN EASTERN NEW YORK
  SCHENECTADY COUNTY IN EASTERN NEW YORK

* UNTIL 530 PM EDT

* AT 435 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATES 
  SEVERAL TORNADOES ACROSS ALBANY...SCHOHARIE AND 
  SCHENECTADY COUNTIES. THESE TORNADOES ARE MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH. 
  DAMAGE HAS BEEN REPORTED FROM THESE STORMS. 
  THIS IS A DANGEROUS SITUATION...TAKE COVER NOW 

* THESE TORNADOES WILL BE NEAR...
  5 MILES SOUTH OF DELANSON AT  435 PM
  ALTAMONT AT  445 PM
  5 MILES SOUTH OF ROTTERDAM AT  450 PM
  5 MILES NORTH OF WESTMERE AT  450 PM
  COLONIE AT  455 PM
  LATHAM AT  500 PM
  COHOES AT  505 PM

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

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 31, 1:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningALYHamilton, Herkimer72 min
May 31, 3:09 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningALYHerkimer61 min
May 31, 3:13 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningALYMontgomery62 min
May 31, 3:24 PM EDTTornado WarningALYMontgomery61 min
May 31, 3:29 PM EDTTornado WarningALYFulton, Herkimer61 min
May 31, 3:33 PM EDTTornado WarningALYMontgomery52 min
May 31, 3:43 PM EDTTornado WarningALYSaratoga62 min
May 31, 4:16 PM EDTTornado WarningALYWashington74 min
May 31, 4:30 PM EDTTornado WarningALYRensselaer50 min
May 31, 4:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningALYSaratoga32 min
May 31, 4:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningALYGreene78 min
May 31, 5:16 PM EDTTornado WarningALYColumbia, Rensselaer74 min
May 31, 6:17 PM EDTTornado WarningALYFulton, Herkimer, Montgomery63 min
May 31, 6:29 PM EDTTornado WarningALYSchoharie46 min
May 31, 6:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningALYAlbany, Saratoga, Schenectady60 min
May 31, 7:03 PM EDTTornado WarningALYGreene57 min
May 31, 7:06 PM EDTTornado WarningALYRensselaer59 min
May 31, 7:10 PM EDTTornado WarningALYWashington60 min
May 31, 7:10 PM EDTTornado WarningALYAlbany, Schoharie55 min
May 31, 7:19 PM EDTTornado WarningALYUlster56 min
May 31, 7:32 PM EDTTornado WarningALYColumbia73 min
May 31, 7:50 PM EDTTornado WarningALYGreene45 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in New York, 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.