Alert archive / Massachusetts / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 3, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

May 20, 1998Franklin County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 20, 1998, 6:10 PM EDT for Franklin County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 30 min. 1 report 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 20, 1998, 6:10 PM EDT (22:10 UTC)
Expired
May 20, 1998, 6:40 PM EDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area
Whole counties

County Franklin County, MA

The radar

The Albany radar (KENX), 121 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:14 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 20, 6:25 PM EDTHail 0.75Northfield, 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 nearest sounding before it

Albany, NY (KALY), launched 12:00Z, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 102 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 1998-05-20Temperature 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 1998-05-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 43 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1160 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
43 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
78 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.

000 
TTAA00 KBOS 202210 RRA
SVRBOS
MAC011-202240-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
610 PM EDT WED MAY 20 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN FRANKLIN COUNTY IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS

* UNTIL 640 PM EDT

* AT AT 605 PM EDT...SPOTTERS INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR
  LEVERETT... MOVING TOWARD THE EAST AT 30 MPH.

* TOWNS IN/NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...
  NEW SALEM AROUND 620 PM

DIME SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED IN LEVERETT.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND/OR WINDS STRONG ENOUGH
TO KNOCK DOWN TREES AND POWER LINES.  MOVE INDOORS AND STAY AWAY
FROM WINDOWS.

WTB
&

The office that day

Everything else NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 20, 4:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXHampshire48 min
May 20, 6:48 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXFranklin, Worcester62 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.