Alert archive / Massachusetts / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 80, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

August 24, 1998Essex County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 24, 1998, 5:20 PM EDT for Essex County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 40 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
Aug 24, 1998, 5:20 PM EDT (21:20 UTC)
Expired
Aug 24, 1998, 6:00 PM EDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area
Whole counties

County Essex County, MA

The radar

The Boston radar (KBOX), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:22 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
Aug 24, 5:26 PM EDTHail 0.88Salisbury, 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

Chatham, MA (KCHH), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 131 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 12:00Z on 1998-08-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 938 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, Chatham, MA at 12:00Z on 1998-08-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 118 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
938 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-102 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
888 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
118 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
137 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

226 
WUUS1 KBOS 242123 RRA
SVRBOS
MAC009-242200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
520 PM EDT MON AUG 24 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
     NORTH CENTRAL ESSEX COUNTY IN MASSACHUSETTS
     INCLUDING NEWBURYPORT

* UNTIL 600 PM EDT

* AT 520 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A   
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR MERRIMAC...OR ABOUT 5 MILES WEST OF 
NEWBURYPORT...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES PER HOUR.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  SALISBURY BETWEEN 525 AND 535 PM EDT
  NEWBURYPORT BETWEEN 525 AND 535 PM EDT

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

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.