Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 28, NWS State College, PA
NWS State College, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 6, 1998, 3:06 PM EDT for Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 64 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 6, 1998, 3:06 PM EDT (19:06 UTC)
- Expired
- May 6, 1998, 4:10 PM EDT
- In force
- 64 min
- Issued by
- NWS State College, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Lancaster County, PA
The radar
The Dover AFB radar (KDOX), 152 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:09 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 6, 3:12 PM EDT | Hail 0.8 | Millersville, PA | Nickel size hail fell in Millersville and just north of Lancaster. Pea size hail covered the ground in Lancaster. |
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
Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD (KAPG), launched 12:00Z, 7.1 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 230 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -8 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 463 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 33 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -9 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 35 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- -0.0
- Supercell composite
- -0.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
675 WUUS01 KCTP 061908 RRA SVRCTP PAC071-062010- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 306 PM EDT WED MAY 6 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... LANCASTER COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN PENNSYLVANIA * UNTIL 410 PM EDT * AT 303PP...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR MILLERSVILLE... MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... LANCASTER 310 PM THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF LARGE HAIL. GO INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. NICKEL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED IN MILLERSVILLE AT 304 PM. TED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH... DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE INDOORS AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY. DONT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD. &
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 May 6, 10:10 AM EDT, 4 hours 56 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 6, 10:10 AM EDT, 4 hours 56 minutes before
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 1010 AM EDT WED MAY 6 1998 ...WORKZONES SENT TO NWSFO/S PIT AND PHL VIA PHLADMCTP... ...DISCUSSION... UPPER LOW CONTINUES TO SPIN SLOWLY TO THE EAST ACROSS CNTRL MD THIS MORNING. THIS IS SIGNIFICANTLY SLOWER THAN WHAT THE MODELS WERE TIMING A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO. AS A RESULT...THERE WILL STILL BE A FEW SCT RW/TRW ACROSS CENTRAL PA THIS AFTERNOON. SAT LOOPS SHOW LARGE BREAKS IN THE CLOUDS OVER NE AND SW PA...WITH THICKEST CLOUD COVER OVER THE CNTRL MTNS. WITH BREAKS IN MOST PLACES TODAY LAPSE RATES WILL ONCE AGAIN STEEPEN. MODEL KS ONCE AGAIN ARE IN THE MID 20S... WITH FORECAST LIS JUST BELOW ZERO AND MID-LVL LAPSE RATES OVER 6 DEG C/KM. ONE MIGHT EXPECT THE BEST CHC OF RAIN TO OVER EASTERN PA TODAY...BUT THE MESO ETA IS SHOWING BEST LOW-LVL CONVERGENCE OVER THE LAURELS...WHERE HEAVIEST RAINS HAVE FALLEN THE PAST FEW DAYS. DIFFERENCE TODAY WILL BE LACK OF DEEP SSE FLOW FOR TRAINING AND UPSLOPE...SO DONT EXPECT FLOODING. NEXT SYSTEM APPROACHING THURSDAY AFTERNOON WILL ONCE AGAIN TURN THE FLOW TO SSE WITH GULF OPENING UP...LIS FALLING BELOW ZERO...AND PWATS RISING ABOVE AN INCH. BASED ON RECENT HEAVY RAINS...WILL CONSIDER ISSUING AN ESF (OUTLOOK) FOR THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAINS WITH THIS AFTERNOONS PACKAGE. MSE
The office that day
Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 8:21 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Bedford | 6 hr |
| May 5, 10:13 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Cambria, Somerset | 4 hr |
| May 6, 3:02 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Lancaster | 63 min |
| May 6, 4:15 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Lancaster | 3 hr |
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.