Alert archive / New York / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Buffalo, NY
NWS Buffalo, NY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 31, 1998, 11:15 AM EDT for Erie County, New York. It was in force for 60 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, 11:15 AM EDT (15:15 UTC)
- Expired
- May 31, 1998, 12:15 PM EDT
- In force
- 60 min
- Issued by
- NWS Buffalo, NY
- Area
- Whole counties
County Erie County, NY
The radar
The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 21 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:17 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, 11:30 AM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Orchard Park, 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 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, 9:00 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 3.3 hours before the alert went out and 283 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
- 1035 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -145 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1038 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 30 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 198 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 281 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.3
- Supercell composite
- 4.7
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
286 WUUS1 KBUF 311514 RRA SVRBUF NYC029-311615- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY 1115 AM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BUFFALO NY HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... SOUTHERN ERIE COUNTY IN WESTERN NEW YORK * UNTIL 1215 PM EDT * AT 1110 AM EDT ...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM EASTERN LAKE ERIE ACROSS SOUTHERN ERIE COUNTY...MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 65 MPH. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO CROSS SOUTHERN ERIE COUNTY THROUGH 1215 PM EDT... IF YOU ARE IN THESE AREAS...SEEK SAFETY IN A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM AWAY FROM WINDOWS. A BASEMENT OFFERS THE BEST PROTECTION. A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE TORNADOES. 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. LEVAN
The office that day
Everything else NWS Buffalo, NY issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 4:08 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Niagara | 62 min |
| May 31, 10:13 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Erie, Niagara | 62 min |
| May 31, 10:45 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Genesee, Orleans | 45 min |
| May 31, 10:50 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Wyoming | 70 min |
| May 31, 10:50 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Monroe | 70 min |
| May 31, 11:10 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Livingston | 80 min |
| May 31, 11:26 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Chautauqua | 79 min |
| May 31, 11:30 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Ontario, Wayne | 80 min |
| May 31, 11:45 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Jefferson | 80 min |
| May 31, 11:50 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Cayuga, Oswego | 85 min |
| May 31, 12:06 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Cattaraugus | 99 min |
| May 31, 12:15 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Erie | 45 min |
| May 31, 12:35 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Lewis | 65 min |
| May 31, 1:00 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Allegany | 45 min |
| May 31, 1:27 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Livingston | 63 min |
| May 31, 2:25 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Wyoming | 45 min |
| May 31, 2:45 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Livingston | 45 min |
| May 31, 3:04 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Cattaraugus | 61 min |
| May 31, 3:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Wayne | 65 min |
| May 31, 4:02 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Oswego | 33 min |
| May 31, 4:05 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Allegany | 65 min |
| May 31, 4:11 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Chautauqua, Erie | 79 min |
| May 31, 4:11 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Niagara | 79 min |
| May 31, 4:49 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | BUF | Allegany | 46 min |
| May 31, 5:08 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | BUF | Chautauqua | 47 min |
| May 31, 5:17 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Genesee, Livingston, Wyoming | 63 min |
| May 31, 5:24 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Erie | 61 min |
| May 31, 5:53 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Cattaraugus, Chautauqua | 62 min |
| May 31, 6:02 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Allegany | 63 min |
| May 31, 6:17 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Monroe, Orleans | 63 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.