Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 371, NWS Cleveland, OH

August 24, 1998Crawford County, Erie County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 24, 1998, 8:40 AM EDT for Crawford County, Erie County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 60 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, 8:40 AM EDT (12:40 UTC)
Expired
Aug 24, 1998, 9:40 AM EDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Cleveland, OH
Area
Whole counties

Counties Crawford County, PA, Erie County, PA

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 153 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:43 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, 8:50 AM EDTThunderstorm WindCountywide, PANumerous trees and power lines were downed, especially in and around Conneautville.
Aug 24, 9:00 AM EDTThunderstorm Wind 52Countywide, PANumerous trees and power lines were downed. Two cars were damaged by falling trees in Corry, while wind gusts of 60 miles per hour were measured at Edinboro and Franklin Center.

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, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 162 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 1998-08-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1420 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 1998-08-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 138 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
1420 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-55 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
952 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
138 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
203 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.0
Supercell composite
8.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCLE 241240 RRA
SVRCLE
PAC039-049-PAZ520-241340-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION/IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
840 AM EDT MON AUG 24 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CLEVELAND HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  ERIE COUNTY PA INCLUDING ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS IN NORTHWESTERN
  PENNSYLVANIA
  CRAWFORD COUNTY PA IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 940 AM EDT

* AT 839 AM EDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  LINE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM EASTERN ASHTABULA COUNTY THROUGH
  GEAUGA COUNTY. THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. DAMAGING
  WINDS TO 60 MPH AND LARGE HAIL ARE LIKELY.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORZMS WILL BE NEAR...
  LAKE CITY
  ERIE
  WATERFORD
  LINESVILLE
  MEADVILLE

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. GO INSIDE
A STURDY BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS!

GABRIC

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 24, 4:40 AM EDT, 4 hours before
OHZ003-006>014-017>023-027>033-036>038-047-089-PAZ001>003-251000-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
440 AM EDT MON AUG 24 1998

SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHERN OHIO AND ERIE AND CRAWFORD
COUNTIES IN NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA COULD BECOME SEVERE TODAY AND
TONIGHT.

NORTHERN OHIO AND NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA WILL BE IN A MOIST AND
UNSTABLE SOUTHWEST FLOW THROUGH TONIGHT. WEATHER SYSTEMS IN THIS WILL
TRIGGER SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD
BECOME SEVERE WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED AT TIMES THROUGH TONIGHT.

KIELTYKA
Special weather statement, Aug 24, 4:40 AM EDT, 4 hours before
OHZ003-006>014-017>023-027>033-036>038-047-089-PAZ001>003-251000-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
440 AM EDT MON AUG 24 1998

SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHERN OHIO AND ERIE AND CRAWFORD
COUNTIES IN NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA COULD BECOME SEVERE TODAY AND
TONIGHT.

NORTHERN OHIO AND NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA WILL BE IN A MOIST AND
UNSTABLE SOUTHWEST FLOW THROUGH TONIGHT. WEATHER SYSTEMS IN THIS WILL
TRIGGER SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD
BECOME SEVERE WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED AT TIMES THROUGH TONIGHT.

KIELTYKA

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Pennsylvania, 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.