Alert archive / Massachusetts / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 70, NWS Boston/Norton, MA
NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 20, 1998, 5:21 PM EDT for Hampden County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 44 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
- Jul 20, 1998, 5:21 PM EDT (21:21 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 20, 1998, 6:05 PM EDT
- In force
- 44 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 21:25 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 | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 5:21 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Ludlow, 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, 9.4 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 3024 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -27 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 579 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 42 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 47 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 123 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 2.4
- Supercell composite
- 13.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
620 WUUS1 KBOS 202120 RRA SVRBOS MAC013-202205- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA 521 PM EDT MON JUL 20 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... HAMPDEN COUNTY IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS * UNTIL 605 PM EDT * AT 515 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER SPRINGFIELD...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH. * TOWNS IN/NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE... WILBRAHAM AT 530 PM HAMPDEN AT 535 PM MONSON AT 535 PM THIS STORM HAS BEEN PRODUCING NICKLE SIZE HAIL IN SPRINGFIELD. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND/OR WINDS STRONG ENOUGH TO KNOCK DOWN TREES AND POWER LINES. MOVE INDOORS AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. DRV/JN &
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, Jul 20, 11:38 AM EDT, 5 hours 43 minutes before
MAZ002>019-CTZ002>004-RIZ001>006-202300- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOSTON MA 1138 AM EDT MON JUL 20 1998 ...ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH DAMAGING WIND AND LARGE HAIL ARE EXPECTED IN THE REGION FROM NEAR BOSTON TO WILLIMANTIC AND HARTFORD CONNECTICUT NORTHWARD TO WORCESTER AND NASHUA NEW HAMPSHIRE THIS AFTERNOON... THUNDERSTORMS HAVE ALREADY PRODUCED ONE-HALF INCH DIAMETER HAIL IN NORTH CENTRAL CONNECTICUT. THESE STORMS ARE LIKELY TO BECOME EVEN STRONGER BETWEEN NOON AND 4 PM...ESPECIALLY FROM NORTHEAST CONNECTICUT INTO CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS. IN ADDITION TO THE THREAT FOR LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS...BRIEF STREET FLOODING FROM TORRENTIAL RAINS WILL OCCUR IN A FEW LOCATIONS FROM NEAR WORCESTER INTO THE BOSTON METRO AREA. MARINE INTERESTS IN THE EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS COASTAL WATERS FROM MARSHFIELD TO BOSTON HARBOR NORTH TO THE MOUTH OF THE MERRIMACK RIVER SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF SUDDEN STRONG WIND GUSTS OVER 35 KNOTS NEAR 1 OR 2 STORMS THIS AFTERNOON. ELSEWHERE...IF THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP AGAIN IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS DURING MID OR LATE AFTERNOON INTO THE MONADNOCKS...A FEW OF THOSE WOULD LIKELY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND YOUR LOCAL MEDIA FOR ANY ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS...WATCHES AND WARNINGS. DRAG
Local storm report, Jul 20, 1:09 PM EDT, 4 hours 12 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MASSACHUSETTS
109 PM EDT MON JUL 20 1998
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0105 PM WEST BRIDGEWATER MA 1 INCH HAIL
07/20/98 PLYMOUTH DIME TO 1 INCH DIAMTER
HAIL VIA SKYWARN REPORTLocal storm report, Jul 20, 3:03 PM EDT, 2 hours 18 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MASSACHUSETTS
303 PM EDT MON JUL 20 1998
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0105 PM WEST BRIDGEWATER MA 1 INCH HAIL
07/20/98 PLYMOUTH DIME TO 1 INCH DIAMTER
HAIL VIA SKYWARN REPORT
0115 PM MARSHFIELD MA WIND DAMAGE
07/20/98 PLYMOUTH 40 TO 50 TREE BRANCHES
BLOWN DOWN AS REPORTED BY
DPW.The office that day
Everything else NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 12:12 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Norfolk | 48 min |
| Jul 20, 1:09 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Plymouth | 46 min |
| Jul 20, 1:27 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Barnstable | 33 min |
| Jul 20, 4:17 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Hampden, Hampshire | 48 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.