Alert archive / New York / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 118, NWS Buffalo, NY

July 21, 1998Niagara County, New York

NWS Buffalo, NY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 21, 1998, 11:47 PM EDT for Niagara County, New York. It was in force for 63 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
Jul 21, 1998, 11:47 PM EDT (03:47 UTC)
Expired
Jul 22, 1998, 12:50 AM EDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Buffalo, NY
Area
Whole counties

County Niagara County, NY

The radar

The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 25 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:46 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
Jul 22, 12:12 AM EDTThunderstorm WindLockport, NY

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

Buffalo Intl Airport, NY (KBUF), launched 00:00Z, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 27 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 00:00Z on 1998-07-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 00:00Z on 1998-07-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 130 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1898 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
130 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
257 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

506 
WUUS1 KBUF 220348 RRA
SVRBUF
NYC063-220450-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
1147 PM EDT TUE JUL 21 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BUFFALO NY HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  NIAGARA COUNTY IN WESTERN NEW YORK

* UNTIL 1250 AM EDT

* AT 1145PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER LEWISTON...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  LEWISTON THROUGH 1155 PM
  LOCKPORT BETWEEN 1200 AM AND 1215 AM

IF YOU ARE IN THESE AREAS...SEEK SAFETY IN A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM
AWAY FROM WINDOWS. A BASEMENT OFFERS THE BEST PROTECTION.

BE ON THE ALERT FOR THUNDERSTORMS ACCOMPANIED BY DAMAGING
WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND HAIL. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL
MAY ALSO PRODUCE DRAINAGE FLOODING.

TAN

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

Special weather statement, Jul 21, 11:33 PM EDT, 14 minutes before
NYZ010>013-019>021-220600-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
1133 PM EDT TUE JUL 21 1998

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 770 HAS EXPIRED...

AT 1115PM...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED THAT THE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY
OVER WESTERN NEW YORK HAD WEAKENED SOMEWHAT. THEREFORE...THE
THUNDERSTORM WATCH WAS CANCELLED.

ALTHOUGH THIS WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED...THE AIR IS STILL VERY HUMID
AND CAPABLE OF PRODUCING ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. STAY
TUNED FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS ON THIS SITUATION.

TAN

The office that day

Everything else NWS Buffalo, NY issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 22, 1:19 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFJefferson, Oswego61 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in New York, 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.