Alert archive / New York / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 154, NWS Buffalo, NY

August 24, 1998Erie County, Niagara County, New York

NWS Buffalo, NY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 24, 1998, 11:16 PM EDT for Erie County, Niagara County, New York. It was in force for 64 min. 2 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
Aug 24, 1998, 11:16 PM EDT (03:16 UTC)
Expired
Aug 25, 1998, 12:20 AM EDT
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS Buffalo, NY
Area
Whole counties

Counties Erie County, NY, Niagara County, NY

The radar

The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 2 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:16 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
Aug 24, 11:30 PM EDTThunderstorm WindNorth Tonawanda, NY
Aug 24, 11:40 PM EDTThunderstorm WindWilliamsville, 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, 3.3 hours before the alert went out and 5 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 1998-08-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1041 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 1998-08-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 122 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1041 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-26 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1106 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
122 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
154 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
6.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

286 
WUUS1 KBUF 250318 RRA
SVRBUF
NYC029-063-250420-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
1116 PM EDT MON AUG 24 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BUFFALO NY HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 1220 AM EDT

* AT 1115 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM ST CATHARINES TO NIAGARA FALLS
  TO LOCKPORT...MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL CROSS...
  SOUTHERN NIAGARA COUNTY AND THE NORTHERN BUFFALO SUBURBS
  THROUGH 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.

MCLAUGHLIN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 24, 8:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFCayuga, Wayne58 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.