Alert archive / Massachusetts / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 9, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

May 29, 1998Worcester County, Massachusetts; Hillsborough County, New Hampshire

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 29, 1998, 5:44 PM EDT for Worcester County, Massachusetts; Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. It was in force for 46 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: May 29, 1998, 5:44 PM EDT (21:44 UTC)
Expired: May 29, 1998, 6:30 PM EDT
In force: 46 min
Issued by: NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area: Whole counties

Counties Worcester County, MA, Hillsborough County, NH

The radar

The Boston radar (KBOX), 94 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:43 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
May 29, 5:50 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Athol, MA
May 29, 6:00 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	New Ipswich, NH
May 29, 6:17 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Fitchburg, MA
May 29, 6:20 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 55	Brookline, NH
May 29, 6:25 PM EDT	Hail 0.75	West Brookfield, 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, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 165 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBOS 292144 RRA
SVRBOS
MAC027-NHC011-292230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
544 PM EDT FRI MAY 29 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY IN CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS
  AND ALL OF HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY IN SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE

* UNTIL 630 PM EDT

* AT AT 540 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR
  INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM DEERING NEW
  HAMPSHIRE TO NEAR ORANGE MASSACHUSETTS... MOVING SOUTHEAST AT
  30 TO 40 MPH .

THIS LINE OF STORMS HAS BEEN PRODUCING POCKETS OF WIND DAMAGE IN
SOUTHWEST NEW HAMPSHIRE AND WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS.

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

LJC/DRAG

The office that day

Everything else NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 29, 5:14 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Hampden, Hampshire	31 min
May 29, 5:21 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Franklin	29 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
May 29, 5:28 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Cheshire	32 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Massachusetts, 1998 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in New Hampshire, 1998 Every 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.