Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 67, NWS Cleveland, OH

May 31, 1998Erie County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 31, 1998, 12:21 PM EDT for Erie County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 49 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 31, 1998, 12:21 PM EDT (16:21 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1998, 1:10 PM EDT
In force
49 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 16:23 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 31, 12:39 PM EDTHail 1Edinboro, PA

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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 31, 10:30 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 4.4 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1998-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1035 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1998-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 198 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
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.

740 
WUUS1 KCLE 311622 RRA
SVRCLE
PAC049-PAZ520-311710-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION/IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
1221 PM 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 110 PM EDT

* AT 1221 PM EDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 16 MILES NORTHWEST OF MEADVILLE OR 9 MILES WEST
  OF EDINBORO MOVING EAST AT 55 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL MOVE NEAR...
  EDINBORO
  UNION CITY
  CORRY

.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

Local storm report, May 31, 10:43 AM EDT, 1 hour 38 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, 1 hour 16 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, 1 hour 16 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, 11:45 AM EDT, 36 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NWSFO CLEVELAND OHIO
1145 AM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

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

1125 AM    WILLOUGHBY                OH   .75 INCH HAIL
05/31/98   LAKE
Local storm report, May 31, 12:00 PM EDT, 21 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NWSFO CLEVELAND OHIO
1200 PM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

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

1150 AM    MADISON                   OH   .88 INCH HAIL
05/31/98   LAKE

WOODWORTH
Local storm report, May 31, 12:00 PM EDT, 21 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NWSFO CLEVELAND OHIO
1200 PM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

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

1150 AM    MADISON                   OH   .88 INCH HAIL
05/31/98   LAKE

WOODWORTH

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 31, 11:34 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEErie46 min
May 31, 12:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLECrawford48 min
May 31, 12:35 PM EDTTornado WarningCLECrawford50 min
May 31, 4:01 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEErie64 min
May 31, 4:42 PM EDTTornado WarningCLEErie48 min
May 31, 5:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEErie63 min
May 31, 5:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLECrawford63 min

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.