Alert archive / Massachusetts / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 6, NWS Boston/Norton, MA
NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 29, 1998, 5:14 PM EDT for Hampden County, Hampshire County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 31 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 29, 1998, 5:14 PM EDT (21:14 UTC)
- Expired
- May 29, 1998, 5:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 31 min
- Issued by
- NWS Boston/Norton, MA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Hampden County, MA, Hampshire County, MA
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 29, 5:45 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Cummington, 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 29, 3:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Albany, NY (KALY), launched 12:00Z, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 109 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 9 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -198 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1241 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 40 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 156 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 75 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
286 WUUS1 KBOS 292113 RRA SVRBOS MAC013-015-292145- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA 514 PM EDT FRI MAY 29 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... HAMPSHIRE COUNTY IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS WESTERN HAMPDEN COUNTY IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS * UNTIL 545 PM EDT * AT 510 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ABOUT 5 MILES EAST OF PITTSFIELD... MOVING EAST TO SOUTHEAST AT 30 TO 35 MPH. * TOWNS IN/NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE... MIDDLEFIELD..CHESTER...WORTHINGTON...CUMMINGTON AND PLAINFIELD BY 545 PM. THIS STORM HAS PRODUCED SCATTERED AREAS OF DAMAGING WIND IN CENTRAL AND NORTHERN BERKSHIRE COUNTY AND CONTINUES STRONG AS IT MOVES OFF THE BERKSHIRES. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE WINDS STRONG ENOUGH TO KNOCK DOWN TREES AND POWER LINES. MOVE INDOORS AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. LJC/DRAG
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
Special weather statement, May 29, 11:17 AM EDT, 5 hours 57 minutes before
MAZ002>019-RIZ001>005-CTZ002>004-NHZ011-012-300400- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA 1115 AM EST FRI MAY 29 1998 ...A POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXISTS ACROSS SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS TODAY... AN ACTIVE COLD FRONT WILL COLLIDE WITH VERY WARM AND HUMID AIR ACROSS SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND LATE IN THE DAY. THIS WILL PROBABLY GIVE RISE TO NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS WITH FREQUENT LIGHTNING. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS COULD REACH SEVERE CRITERIA WITH DAMAGING WIND GUSTS ABOVE 60 MPH. THE RISK OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE GREATEST BETWEEN 5 PM AND 10 PM. THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MAY BE ACCOMPANIED BY TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS FOR A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. SKYWARN SPOTTERS AND AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO RELAY SEVERE WEATHER REPORTS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL RADIO AND TV STATIONS FOR LATER INFORMATION ON THE POTENTIAL SEVERE WEATHER. DMH
The office that day
Everything else NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 29, 5:21 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Franklin | 29 min |
| May 29, 5:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Worcester | 46 min |
| May 29, 5:49 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Hampden, Hampshire | 46 min |
| May 29, 6:03 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Middlesex, Worcester | 42 min |
| May 29, 6:33 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Essex, Middlesex, Worcester | 62 min |
| May 29, 7:01 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk | 44 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.