Alert archive / Massachusetts / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 65, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

July 17, 1998Hampden County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 17, 1998, 9:08 PM EDT for Hampden County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 62 min. 2 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
Jul 17, 1998, 9:08 PM EDT (01:08 UTC)
Expired
Jul 17, 1998, 10:10 PM EDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area
Whole counties

County Hampden County, MA

The radar

The Boston radar (KBOX), 125 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:08 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
Jul 17, 9:17 PM EDTHail 0.75West Springfield, MA
Jul 17, 9:33 PM EDTHail 0.88Springfield, 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 00:00Z, 1.1 hours before the alert went out and 116 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 00:00Z on 1998-07-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 598 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1998-07-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -31 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
598 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-52 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1135 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-31 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-2 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.0
Supercell composite
-0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

357 
WUUS1 KBOS 180107 RRA
SVRBOS
MAC013-180210-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
908 PM EDT FRI JUL 17 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  HAMPDEN COUNTY IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS

* UNTIL 1010 PM EDT

* AT 907 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER HOLYOKE...MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH.

* TOWNS IN/NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...
  CHICOPEE AT 910 PM
  SPRINGFIELD AT 920 PM

LARGE HAIL WAS INDICATED WITH THIS STORM.

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

GAF/NS

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.