Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 63, NWS Cleveland, OH

May 31, 1998Erie County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 31, 1998, 11:34 AM EDT for Erie County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 46 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 31, 1998, 11:34 AM EDT (15:34 UTC)
Expired: May 31, 1998, 12:20 PM EDT
In force: 46 min
Issued by: NWS Cleveland, OH
Area: Whole counties

County Erie County, PA

The radar

The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 145 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:37 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.

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, 10:30 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 3.6 hours before the alert went out and 190 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: 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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

415 
WUUS1 KCLE 311535 RRA
SVRCLE
PAC049-PAZ520-311620-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION/IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
1134 AM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CLEVELAND HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 1220 PM EDT

* AT 1132 AM EDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF ERIE PA MOVING EAST AT 55
  MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT THE TOWN OF ERIE AND ALSO
  NORTHEAST ERIE COUNTY.

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

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, May 31, 6:10 AM EDT, 5 hours 24 minutes before

OHZ003-006>014-017>023-027>033-036>038-047-089-PAZ001>003-010000-
SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
610 AM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER IN NORMAN OKLAHOMA HAS INDICATED THAT THERE
IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTHERN OHIO AND
NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA THROUGH EARLY TONIGHT.

A VERY WARM AND HUMID AIR MASS ACROSS THE REGION WILL BECOME
INCREASINGLY UNSTABLE DURING THE COURSE OF THE DAY. A COLD FRONT
APPROACHING FROM THE CENTRAL GREAT LAKES WILL PROVIDE THE TRIGGER FOR
THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT TODAY. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE
THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM THE STORMS...BUT WIND FIELDS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
THE POSSIBILITY OF TORNADOES AS WELL.

PEOPLE ACROSS NORTHERN OHIO AND NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA ARE ADVISED TO
STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS FOR UPDATES AND
POSSIBLE WATCHES OR WARNINGS.

SKYWARN ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED TODAY.

MILLER

Special weather statement, May 31, 6:10 AM EDT, 5 hours 24 minutes before

OHZ003-006>014-017>023-027>033-036>038-047-089-PAZ001>003-010000-
SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
610 AM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER IN NORMAN OKLAHOMA HAS INDICATED THAT THERE
IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTHERN OHIO AND
NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA THROUGH EARLY TONIGHT.

A VERY WARM AND HUMID AIR MASS ACROSS THE REGION WILL BECOME
INCREASINGLY UNSTABLE DURING THE COURSE OF THE DAY. A COLD FRONT
APPROACHING FROM THE CENTRAL GREAT LAKES WILL PROVIDE THE TRIGGER FOR
THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT TODAY. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE
THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM THE STORMS...BUT WIND FIELDS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
THE POSSIBILITY OF TORNADOES AS WELL.

PEOPLE ACROSS NORTHERN OHIO AND NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA ARE ADVISED TO
STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS FOR UPDATES AND
POSSIBLE WATCHES OR WARNINGS.

SKYWARN ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED TODAY.

MILLER

Local storm report, May 31, 10:43 AM EDT, 51 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NWSFO CLEVELAND OHIO
1043 AM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1025 AM    SANDUSKY                  OH   1 INCH HAIL
05/31/98   ERIE

Local storm report, May 31, 11:05 AM EDT, 29 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NWSFO CLEVELAND OHIO
1105 AM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1025 AM    PORT CLINTON              OH   60 MPH TSTM GUST
05/31/98   OTTAWA                         TREES DOWN

WOODWORTH

Local storm report, May 31, 11:05 AM EDT, 29 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NWSFO CLEVELAND OHIO
1105 AM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1025 AM    PORT CLINTON              OH   60 MPH TSTM GUST
05/31/98   OTTAWA                         TREES DOWN

WOODWORTH

The office that day

Everything else NWS Cleveland, OH issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 31, 12:12 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CLE	Crawford	48 min
May 31, 12:21 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CLE	Erie	49 min
May 31, 12:35 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	CLE	Crawford	50 min
May 31, 4:01 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CLE	Erie	64 min
May 31, 4:42 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	CLE	Erie	48 min
May 31, 5:32 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CLE	Erie	63 min
May 31, 5:52 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CLE	Crawford	63 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Pennsylvania, 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.