Alert archive / New York / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 15, NWS Buffalo, NY

May 31, 1998Niagara County, New York

NWS Buffalo, NY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 31, 1998, 4:08 AM EDT for Niagara County, New York. It was in force for 62 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
May 31, 1998, 4:08 AM EDT (08:08 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1998, 5:10 AM EDT
In force
62 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 08:05 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
May 31, 5:20 AM EDTHail 0.75Lockport, 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

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 00:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 329 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 00:00Z on 1998-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 989 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 00:00Z on 1998-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 20 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
989 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1247 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
20 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
97 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBUF 310808 RRA
SVRBUF
NYC063-310910-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
408 AM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BUFFALO NY HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 510 AM EDT

* AT 405 AM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 15 MILES WEST OF NIAGARA FALLS...MOVING
  EAST NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  NIAGARA FALLS AT 415 AM EDT
  LOCKPORT AT 430 AM EDT

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

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH AND/OR HAIL 3/4 INCH OR LARGER. FOR YOUR PROTECTION FROM
POTENTIALLY DAMAGING WINDS...MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS. HEAVY RAINS MAY ALSO
CAUSE RAPID FLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS.
DON'T ATTEMPT TO CROSS FLOODED ROADWAYS.

LEVAN

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, May 30, 10:10 PM EDT, 5 hours 58 minutes before
NYZ001>008-010>014-019>021-310900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
1010 PM EDT SAT MAY 30 1998

...THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR SEVERE WEATHER ACROSS WESTERN AND CENTRAL
NEW YORK SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

DEEPENING LOW PRESSURE OVER THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY SATURDAY
EVENING WILL MOVE RAPIDLY ACROSS THE UPPER GREAT LAKES AND ONTARIO ON
SUNDAY. THIS STORM WILL PUSH A WARM FRONT ACROSS THE STATE DURING
SUNDAY MORNING. THE FRONT WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY SOME SHOWER AND
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY. WARM HUMID WINDY WEATHER WILL FOLLOW FOR
SEVERAL HOURS BEFORE THE TRAILING COLD FRONT SWEEPS ACROSS THE STATE
FROM WEST TO EAST DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. MORE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRECEDE AND ACCOMPANY THIS FRONT AND SOME OF THESE
COULD BE STRONG TO SEVERE. THE GREATEST THREAT FROM THESE STORMS
WOULD BE FROM WINDS OF OVER 60 MPH.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR FAVORITE MEDIA OUTLET FOR
THE LATEST INFORMATION ON THIS POTENTIAL SEVERE WEATHER SITUATION.
ANOTHER STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED BY 5 AM SUNDAY.

MCLAUGHLIN
Special weather statement, May 30, 10:10 PM EDT, 5 hours 58 minutes before
NYZ001>008-010>014-019>021-310900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
1010 PM EDT SAT MAY 30 1998

...THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR SEVERE WEATHER ACROSS WESTERN AND CENTRAL
NEW YORK SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

DEEPENING LOW PRESSURE OVER THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY SATURDAY
EVENING WILL MOVE RAPIDLY ACROSS THE UPPER GREAT LAKES AND ONTARIO ON
SUNDAY. THIS STORM WILL PUSH A WARM FRONT ACROSS THE STATE DURING
SUNDAY MORNING. THE FRONT WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY SOME SHOWER AND
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY. WARM HUMID WINDY WEATHER WILL FOLLOW FOR
SEVERAL HOURS BEFORE THE TRAILING COLD FRONT SWEEPS ACROSS THE STATE
FROM WEST TO EAST DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. MORE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRECEDE AND ACCOMPANY THIS FRONT AND SOME OF THESE
COULD BE STRONG TO SEVERE. THE GREATEST THREAT FROM THESE STORMS
WOULD BE FROM WINDS OF OVER 60 MPH.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR FAVORITE MEDIA OUTLET FOR
THE LATEST INFORMATION ON THIS POTENTIAL SEVERE WEATHER SITUATION.
ANOTHER STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED BY 5 AM SUNDAY.

MCLAUGHLIN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 31, 10:13 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFErie, Niagara62 min
May 31, 10:45 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFGenesee, Orleans45 min
May 31, 10:50 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFWyoming70 min
May 31, 10:50 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFMonroe70 min
May 31, 11:10 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFLivingston80 min
May 31, 11:15 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFErie60 min
May 31, 11:26 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFChautauqua79 min
May 31, 11:30 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFOntario, Wayne80 min
May 31, 11:45 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFJefferson80 min
May 31, 11:50 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFCayuga, Oswego85 min
May 31, 12:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFCattaraugus99 min
May 31, 12:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFErie45 min
May 31, 12:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFLewis65 min
May 31, 1:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFAllegany45 min
May 31, 1:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFLivingston63 min
May 31, 2:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFWyoming45 min
May 31, 2:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFLivingston45 min
May 31, 3:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFCattaraugus61 min
May 31, 3:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFWayne65 min
May 31, 4:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFOswego33 min
May 31, 4:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFAllegany65 min
May 31, 4:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFChautauqua, Erie79 min
May 31, 4:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFNiagara79 min
May 31, 4:49 PM EDTTornado WarningBUFAllegany46 min
May 31, 5:08 PM EDTTornado WarningBUFChautauqua47 min
May 31, 5:17 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFGenesee, Livingston, Wyoming63 min
May 31, 5:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFErie61 min
May 31, 5:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFCattaraugus, Chautauqua62 min
May 31, 6:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFAllegany63 min
May 31, 6:17 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFMonroe, Orleans63 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.