Alert archive / New York / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 4, NWS Buffalo, NY

May 4, 1998Genesee County, Monroe County, New York

NWS Buffalo, NY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 4, 1998, 6:53 PM EDT for Genesee County, Monroe County, New York. It was in force for 67 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, 6:53 PM EDT (22:53 UTC)
Expired
May 4, 1998, 8:00 PM EDT
In force
67 min
Issued by
NWS Buffalo, NY
Area
Whole counties

Counties Genesee County, NY, Monroe County, NY

The radar

The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 68 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:52 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 4, 7:39 PM EDTHail 0.75Bergen, 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, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 66 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 12:00Z on 1998-05-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 13 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 12:00Z on 1998-05-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 67 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
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.

430 
WUUS1 KBUF 042254 RRA
SVRBUF
NYC037-055-042355-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BUFFALO NY HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 800 PM EDT

* AT AT 645 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR
  INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR BYRON IN NORTHEAST GENESEE
  COUNTY...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 10 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  BROCKPORT AT 720 PM EDT

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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 4, 4:16 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFErie59 min
May 4, 5:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFGenesee61 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.