Alert archive / Massachusetts / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 4, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

May 20, 1998Franklin County, Worcester County, Massachusetts; Cheshire County, New Hampshire

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 20, 1998, 6:48 PM EDT for Franklin County, Worcester County, Massachusetts; Cheshire County, New Hampshire. It was in force for 62 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 20, 1998, 6:48 PM EDT (22:48 UTC)
Expired: May 20, 1998, 7:50 PM EDT
In force: 62 min
Issued by: NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area: Whole counties

Counties Franklin County, MA, Worcester County, MA, Cheshire County, NH

The radar

The Boston radar (KBOX), 117 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:47 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
May 20, 7:15 PM EDT	Hail 0.75	Fitzwilliam, NH
May 20, 7:20 PM EDT	Hail 0.75	Royalston, MA
May 20, 7:30 PM EDT	Hail 0.75	Rindge, NH

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, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 129 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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 202248 RRA
SVRBOS
MAC011-027-NHC005-202350-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  NORTHEASTERN FRANKLIN COUNTY IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
  NORTHWESTERN WORCESTER COUNTY IN CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS
  SOUTHERN CHESHIRE COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN NEW HAMPSHIRE

* UNTIL 750 PM EDT

* AT 645 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ALONG THE STATE BORDER BETWEEN NORTHFIELD
  MASSACHUSETTS AND WINCHESTER NEW HAMPSHIRE...MOVING EAST AT 20
  MPH.

* TOWNS IN/NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...
  WARWICK AND ROYALSTON IN MASSACHUSETTS...AND WINCHESTER...
  RICHMOND AND FITZWILLIAM IN NEW HAMPSHIRE THROUGH 715 PM.

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

WTNB/DRV

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 20, 6:24 PM EDT, 24 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MASSACHUSETTS
624 PM EDT WED MAY 20 1998

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0545 PM    GREENFIELD                MA   .75 INCH HAIL
05/20/98   FRANKLIN                       SKYWARN SPOTTER
                                          COORDINATOR

0605 PM    LEVERETT                  MA   .75 INCH HAIL
05/20/98   FRANKLIN                       SKYWARN SPOTTER

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 20, 4:57 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Hampshire	48 min
May 20, 6:10 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Franklin	30 min
May 20, 7:34 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Hillsborough	46 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Massachusetts, 1998 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in New Hampshire, 1998 Every 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.