Alert archive / Massachusetts / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 74, NWS Boston/Norton, MA
NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 23, 1998, 1:28 PM EDT for Hampden County, Worcester County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 32 min. 5 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 23, 1998, 1:28 PM EDT (17:28 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 23, 1998, 2:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 32 min
- Issued by
- NWS Boston/Norton, MA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Hampden County, MA, Worcester County, MA
The radar
The Boston radar (KBOX), 99 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:29 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 23, 1:35 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Monson, MA | |
| Jul 23, 1:40 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Spencer, MA | |
| Jul 23, 1:40 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Webster, MA | |
| Jul 23, 1:55 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Millbury, MA | |
| Jul 23, 2:10 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Uxbridge, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 23, 12:45 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Brookhaven, NY (KOKX), launched 12:00Z, 5.5 hours before the alert went out and 161 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
- 130 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -168 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1570 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 37 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 0 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 40 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- -0.0
- Supercell composite
- -0.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
958 WUUS1 KBOS 231727 RRA SVRBOS MAC013-027-231800- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA 128 PM EDT THU JUL 23 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... EASTERN HAMPDEN COUNTY IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS SOUTHWESTERN WORCESTER COUNTY IN CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS * UNTIL 200 PM EDT * AT 125 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER EAST LONGMEADOW...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH. * TOWNS IN/NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE... BRIMFIELD AT 130 PM STURBRIDGE AT 135 PM CHARLTON AT 140 PM OXFORD AT 150 PM TREES HAVE BEEN REPORTED DOWN IN EAST LONGMEADOW WITH THIS STORM. TORRENTIAL RAINS WILL ACCOMPANY 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/WD &
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, Jul 23, 1:22 PM EDT, 6 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MASSACHUSETTS
122 PM EDT THU JUL 23 1998
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0112 PM ACTON MA .75 INCH HAIL
07/23/98 MIDDLESEX DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED BY
SPOTTER IN ACTON.The office that day
Everything else NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 23, 1:09 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Middlesex | 46 min |
| Jul 23, 1:45 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | BOX | Worcester | 50 min |
| Jul 23, 2:01 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Middlesex | 44 min |
| Jul 23, 2:06 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Essex | 49 min |
| Jul 23, 2:18 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Norfolk | 57 min |
| Jul 23, 2:27 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Suffolk | 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.