Alert archive / New York / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 14, NWS Buffalo, NY

September 6, 1998Niagara County, New York

NWS Buffalo, NY issued this tornado warning at Sep 6, 1998, 11:23 PM EDT for Niagara County, New York. It was in force for 47 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
Sep 6, 1998, 11:23 PM EDT (03:23 UTC)
Expired
Sep 7, 1998, 12:10 AM EDT
In force
47 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 03:27 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
Sep 6, 11:55 PM EDTThunderstorm WindOlcott, 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, 3.4 hours before the alert went out and 27 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 1998-09-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1469 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 1998-09-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 91 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1469 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-84 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1188 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
91 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
114 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
3.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

374 
WFUS1 KBUF 070324 RRA
TORBUF
NYC063-NYZ522-523-070410-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
1123 PM EDT SUN SEP 6 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BUFFALO NY HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NIAGARA COUNTY INCLUDING ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS IN WESTERN NEW
  YORK

* UNTIL 1210 AM EDT

* AT 1120 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A TORNADO THE WESTERN END OF LAKE ONTARIO...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT
  50 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  NEAR WILSON BY 1145 PM

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

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  ACT QUICKLY. TAKE COVER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM...SUCH AS A
BATHROOM OR CLOSET...ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE.

SAGE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 6, 11:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFOrleans49 min
Sep 6, 11:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFGenesee63 min
Sep 6, 11:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFErie32 min
Sep 7, 12:07 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFMonroe63 min
Sep 7, 12:22 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFWayne63 min
Sep 7, 12:29 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFErie, Wyoming66 min
Sep 7, 12:36 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFLivingston64 min
Sep 7, 12:46 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFCayuga64 min
Sep 7, 1:01 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFOswego64 min
Sep 7, 1:13 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFOntario67 min
Sep 7, 1:16 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFAllegany34 min
Sep 7, 2:40 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFAllegany65 min
Sep 7, 8:27 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFErie63 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in New York, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes 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.