Alert archive / Rhode Island / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 41, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

May 31, 1998Kent County, Rhode Island

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 31, 1998, 10:40 PM EDT for Kent County, Rhode Island. It was in force for 50 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 31, 1998, 10:40 PM EDT (02:40 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1998, 11:30 PM EDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area
Whole counties

County Kent County, RI

The radar

The Boston radar (KBOX), 48 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:43 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 31, 5:45 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr
May 31, 8:00 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Chatham, MA (KCHH), launched 00:00Z, 2.7 hours before the alert went out and 134 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, Chatham, MA at 00:00Z on 1998-06-01Temperature 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, Chatham, MA at 00:00Z on 1998-06-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 92 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1405 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
92 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
127 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.

593 
WUUS1 KBOS 010238 RRA
SVRBOS
RIC001-003-010330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
1040 PM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  KENT COUNTY IN CENTRAL RHODE ISLAND
  BRISTOL RI COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL RHODE ISLAND

* UNTIL 1130 PM EDT

* AT 1036 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM FROM BURRIVILLE TO PLAINFIELD IN NEARBY
  WINDHAM COUNTY CONNECTICUT...MOVING EAST NEAR 55 MPH.

* TOWNS IN/NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...
  ALL TOWNS IN KENT AND BRISTOL COUNTIES OF RHODE ISLAND THROUGH
  1110 PM TONIGHT.

THESE STORMS HAVE HAD A HISTORY OF PRODUCING WIDESPREAD WIND DAMAGE
WITH GUSTS TO 94 MPH TO THE NORTH IN WORCESTER COUNTY.

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
THAT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.

DRV/JL

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 31, 9:43 PM EDT, 57 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MASSACHUSETTS
943 PM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

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

0940 PM    WEST SPRINGFIELD          MA   .75 INCH HAIL
05/31/98   HAMPDEN                        HAM RADIO OPERATOR
Local storm report, May 31, 9:56 PM EDT, 44 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MASSACHUSETTS
956 PM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

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

0945 PM    WINDSOR                   CT   65 MPH TSTM GUST
05/31/98   HARTFORD                       SPOTTER REPORT...CONFIRMED
                                          BY TREES DOWN PER PD

0951 PM    WINDSOR LOCKS             CT   61 MPH TSTM GUST
05/31/98   HARTFORD                       BRADLEY INTERNATIONAL ASOS
Local storm report, May 31, 10:00 PM EDT, 40 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MASSACHUSETTS
1000 PM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

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

0940 PM    WEST SPRINGFIELD          MA   .75 INCH HAIL
05/31/98   HAMPDEN

0946 PM    CHICOPEE                  MA   .75 INCH HAIL
05/31/98   HAMPDEN
Local storm report, May 31, 10:00 PM EDT, 40 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MASSACHUSETTS
1000 PM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

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

0940 PM    WEST SPRINGFIELD          MA   .75 INCH HAIL
05/31/98   HAMPDEN

0946 PM    CHICOPEE                  MA   .75 INCH HAIL
05/31/98   HAMPDEN
Local storm report, May 31, 10:10 PM EDT, 30 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MASSACHUSETTS
1010 PM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

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

1008 PM    NEW BRAINTREE             MA   WIND DAMAGE
05/31/98   WORCESTER                      MULTIPLE TREES AND
                                          POWERLINES DOWN.  DIME
                                          SIZED HAIL ALSO.
Local storm report, May 31, 10:17 PM EDT, 23 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MASSACHUSETTS
1017 PM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

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

1012 PM    WORCESTER                 MA   94 MPH TSTM GUST
05/31/98   WORCESTER                      ASOS WIND REPORT. TIME
                                          ESTIMATED AT THIS TIME

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 31, 10:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXProvidence35 min
May 31, 10:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXBristol50 min
May 31, 11:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXProvidence35 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Rhode Island, 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.