Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 199, NWS State College, PA

September 2, 1998Lancaster County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 2, 1998, 7:34 PM EDT for Lancaster 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
Sep 2, 1998, 7:34 PM EDT (23:34 UTC)
Expired
Sep 2, 1998, 8:20 PM EDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Lancaster County, PA

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Sep 2, 2:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD (KAPG), launched 12:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 65 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, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 1998-09-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 1998-09-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 74 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1665 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
74 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
157 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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.

NWS State College, PA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Sep 2, 3:15 PM EDT, 4 hours 19 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 2, 3:15 PM EDT, 4 hours 19 minutes before
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In the hours before

Special weather statement, Sep 2, 2:00 PM EDT, 5 hours 34 minutes before
PAZ006-011-012-017>019-024>028-033>037-041-042-045-046-049>053-
056>059-063>066-022345-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT- SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
200 PM EDT WED SEP 2 1998

...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WATCH UNTIL 8 PM EDT FOR MUCH OF CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA...INCLUDING
THE SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY...

COUNTIES INCLUDED IN THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH ARE...
TIOGA... LYCOMING... SULLIVAN... CLINTON... POTTER... CENTRE...
BLAIR... HUNTINGDON... MIFFLIN... JUNIATA... SNYDER... UNION...
NORTHUMBERLAND... MONTOUR... COLUMBIA... SCHUYLKILL... BEDFORD...
FULTON... FRANKLIN... PERRY... DAUPHIN... CUMBERLAND...LEBANON...
ADAMS... YORK AND LANCASTER

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH COVERS THE REGION GENERALLY ALONG AND
EAST OF A LINE FROM WELLSBORO...SOUTHWEST TO PHILIPSBURG AND
ALTOONA.

A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM THE NORTH CENTRAL
MOUNTAINS SOUTHWEST TO CLEARFIELD AND INDIANA AT 2 PM...WILL
INTENSIFY AS IT MOVES SOUTHEAST DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON HOURS.

THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE
DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WIND GUSTS UP TO 70 MPH...FREQUENT
DEADLY CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND BRIEF TORRENTIAL RAIN.

KEEP TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR FAVORITE SOURCE OF
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INFORMATION VIA THE RADIO OR
TELEVISION FOR ADDITIONAL UPDATES AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

TAKE COVER INDOORS...PREFERABLY IN AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS...IF SEVERE WEATHER IS SIGHTED OR A
WARNING IS ISSUED.

LAMBERT
Special weather statement, Sep 2, 3:45 PM EDT, 3 hours 49 minutes before
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Special weather statement, Sep 2, 5:40 PM EDT, 1 hour 54 minutes before
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The office that day

Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 2, 2:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLancaster62 min
Sep 2, 2:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLycoming, Sullivan49 min
Sep 2, 3:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPColumbia, Montour, Northumberland60 min
Sep 2, 6:54 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLancaster16 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.