Alert archive / Massachusetts / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 5, NWS Boston/Norton, MA
NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1998, 10:05 PM EDT for Worcester County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 35 min. 11 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 31, 1998, 10:05 PM EDT (02:05 UTC)
- Expired
- May 31, 1998, 10:40 PM EDT
- In force
- 35 min
- Issued by
- NWS Boston/Norton, MA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Worcester County, MA
The radar
The Boston radar (KBOX), 77 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:08 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 10:08 PM EDT | Hail 0.75 | New Braintree, MA | |
| May 31, 10:10 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 52 | Charlton, MA | |
| May 31, 10:11 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 82 | Worcester, MA | Worcester Municipal Airport |
| May 31, 10:15 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 90 | Worcester, MA | Worcester Holy Cross College |
| May 31, 10:15 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 70 | New Braintree, MA | |
| May 31, 10:18 PM EDT | Hail 0.75 | West Brookfield, MA | |
| May 31, 10:20 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 60 | Leominster, MA | |
| May 31, 10:20 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 70 | Grafton, MA | |
| May 31, 10:25 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 80 | Worcester, MA | |
| May 31, 10:30 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 60 | Westborough, MA | |
| May 31, 10:35 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 60 | Upton, 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 31, 5:45 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
| May 31, 8:00 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Chatham, MA (KCHH), launched 00:00Z, 2.1 hours before the alert went out and 177 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1405 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 26 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 92 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 127 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBOS 010205 RRA TORBOS MAC027-010240- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA 1005 PM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... CENTRAL WORCESTER COUNTY IN CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS * UNTIL 1040 PM EDT * AT 1002 PM EDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR NEW BRAINTREE... MOVING EAST NEAR 45 MPH. * TOWNS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE... NORTH BROOKFIELD OAKHAM AND SPENCER BY 1015 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 8:00 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Franklin | 50 min |
| May 31, 8:10 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Hampshire | 50 min |
| May 31, 9:14 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Hampden | 61 min |
| May 31, 9:21 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Hampshire | 64 min |
| May 31, 9:53 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Worcester | 62 min |
| May 31, 10:19 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Middlesex | 66 min |
| May 31, 10:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Norfolk | 45 min |
| May 31, 10:33 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Bristol | 47 min |
| May 31, 10:51 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Essex, Suffolk | 49 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.