Alert archive / New York / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Albany, NY

May 31, 1998Berkshire County, Massachusetts; Columbia County, Rensselaer County, New York

NWS Albany, NY issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1998, 5:16 PM EDT for Berkshire County, Massachusetts; Columbia County, Rensselaer County, New York. It was in force for 74 min. 5 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, 5:16 PM EDT (21:16 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1998, 6:30 PM EDT
In force
74 min
Issued by
NWS Albany, NY
Area
Whole counties

Counties Berkshire County, MA, Columbia County, NY, Rensselaer County, NY

The radar

The Albany radar (KENX), 53 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:19 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, 5:20 PM EDTThunderstorm WindChatham, NY
May 31, 5:26 PM EDTThunderstorm WindNiverville, NY
May 31, 5:31 PM EDTHail 1Stuyvesant, NY
May 31, 5:35 PM EDTThunderstorm WindNassau, NY
May 31, 5:45 PM EDTHail 1.75Pittsfield, 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 31, 3:00 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Albany, NY (KALY), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 41 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.

438 
WFUS1 KALB 312117 RRA
TORALB
MAC003-NYC021-083-312230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
516 PM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBANY NY HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  COLUMBIA    COUNTY IN EASTERN NEW YORK
  RENSSELAER  COUNTY IN EASTERN NEW YORK
  BERKSHIRE   COUNTY IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS

* UNTIL  630 PM EDT

* AT  515 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND A POSSIBLE TORNADO ABOUT 5 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF RAVENA MOVING EAST ABOUT 50 MILES AN HOUR.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  RAVENA AT  515 PM
  5 MILES SOUTH OF CASTLETON-ON-HUDSON AT  520 PM
  5 MILES NORTHWEST OF NIVERVILLE AT  520 PM
  NASSAU AT  530 PM
  STEPHENTOWN AT  540 PM
  ADAMS AT  600 PM
  5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF NORTH ADAMS AT  605 PM

ANOTHER TORNADO MAY BE SPINNING UP ON THE MASSACHUSETTS/NEW
YORK BORDER AND WILL BE AFFECTING HANCOCK AND CHESIRE.

THESE STORMS HAVE A HISTORY OF PRODUCING WIDESPREAD DAMAGE. THIS IS
A DANGEROUS SITUATION. 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.


HTS/KL

|42.431  73.894 |42.495  73.656 |42.559  73.417 |42.624  73.179
|42.688  72.941

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 31, 7:32 PM EDTTornado WarningALYBerkshire73 min
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, 4:35 PM EDTTornado WarningALYAlbany, Schenectady, Schoharie55 min
May 31, 4:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningALYSaratoga32 min
May 31, 4:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningALYGreene78 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, 7:50 PM EDTTornado WarningALYGreene45 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.