Alert archive / Massachusetts / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

May 31, 1998Hampshire County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1998, 5:39 PM EDT for Hampshire County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 46 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 31, 1998, 5:39 PM EDT (21:39 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1998, 6:25 PM EDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area
Whole counties

County Hampshire County, MA

The radar

The Albany radar (KENX), 118 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:39 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Albany, NY (KALY), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 103 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 12:00Z on 1998-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 1998-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 188 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1673 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
188 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
264 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

593 
WFUS1 KBOS 312140 RRA
TORBOS
MAC015-312225-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
539 PM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  HAMPSHIRE COUNTY IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS

* UNTIL 625 PM EDT

* AT 532 PM EDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A TORNADO NEAR PITTSFIELD IN BERKSHIRE COUNTY... MOVING EAST NEAR
  50 MPH.

* TOWNS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...
  WORTHINGTON...CUMMINGTON AND PLAINFIELD BY 550 PM
  GOSHEN AND CHESTERFIELD BY 6 PM

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A
STURDY BUILDING.  ABANDON MOBILE HOMES.  IF CAUGHT OUTSIDE OR IN
YOUR CAR...TAKE COVER IN A DITCH OR CULVERT.

DRV/JL

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 31, 11:03 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXWorcester47 min
May 31, 11:46 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXMiddlesex44 min
May 31, 12:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXEssex44 min
May 31, 5:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXFranklin, Hampshire60 min
May 31, 5:30 PM EDTTornado WarningBOXFranklin50 min
May 31, 5:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXWorcester47 min
May 31, 6:13 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXMiddlesex47 min
May 31, 6:23 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXFranklin32 min
May 31, 6:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXEssex61 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Massachusetts, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.