Alert archive / New York / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 3, NWS Buffalo, NY

May 4, 1998Genesee County, New York

NWS Buffalo, NY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 4, 1998, 5:19 PM EDT for Genesee County, New York. It was in force for 61 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 4, 1998, 5:19 PM EDT (21:19 UTC)
Expired: May 4, 1998, 6:20 PM EDT
In force: 61 min
Issued by: NWS Buffalo, NY
Area: Whole counties

County Genesee County, NY

The radar

The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 45 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:19 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 4, 6:10 PM EDT	Hail 1.25	Batavia, 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 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 42 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 13 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -40 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 685 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 67 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 69 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

833 
WUUS1 KBUF 042120 RRA
SVRBUF
NYC037-042220-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
519 PM EDT MON MAY 4 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BUFFALO NY HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 620 PM EDT

* AT 515 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 3 MILES SOUTHEAST OF CORFU...MOVING NORTH
  AT 10 MPH.



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.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 4, 4:16 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BUF	Erie	59 min
May 4, 6:53 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BUF	Genesee, Monroe	67 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in New York, 1998 Every 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.