Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 91, NWS State College, PA

June 13, 1998Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 13, 1998, 3:56 PM EDT for Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 59 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
Jun 13, 1998, 3:56 PM EDT (19:56 UTC)
Expired
Jun 13, 1998, 4:55 PM EDT
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Schuylkill County, PA

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 13, 4:30 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 51Pottsville, 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 nearest sounding before it

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 220 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 1998-06-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 38 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 1998-06-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 11 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
38 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-154 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1171 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
11 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
1 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.0
Supercell composite
-0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

896 
WUUS01 KCTP 131957 RRA
SVRCTP
PAC107-132055-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
356 PM EDT SAT JUN 13 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SCHUYLKILL COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 455 PM EDT

* AT 352 PM EDT... STATE COLLEGE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM OVER POTTSVILLE MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  PORT CARBON AT 405 PM EDT
  SNYDERS AT 420 PM EDT

DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE LIKELY. GO INSIDE A STURDY
BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS

JUNG/ONDREJIK

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 Jun 13, 1:45 PM EDT, 2 hours 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 13, 1:45 PM EDT, 2 hours 11 minutes before
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
145 PM EDT SAT JUN 13 1998

WORK ZONES TO BE SENT TO PIT AND PHL BY 230 PM.

...DISCUSSION...

TSRA DEVELOPING RIGHT ON Q WITH SMALL HAIL REPORTED IN OGLESTOWN...
NORTHEAST SOMERSET COUNTY. VIL OF 34 WHILE THIS WAS OCCURING.  VIL
BUMPED UP TO 41 AT 1255 PM SO WE WARNED SOUTHERN BLAIR COUNTY.
GETTING REPORTS OF 35 MPH AND VERY HEAVY RAIN FROM FULTON AND
SOUTHERN BLAIR COUNTIES.  STORMS SEEM TO BE INTENSIFYING SO IT WILL
BE A BUSY AFTN.

HENCE FORTH NO TIME TO BE VERBOSE BUT DO WANT TO THANK TONY FOR
PHONE COORD.  AGREE THAT FFA SHUD BE LEFT AS IS.  WILL HAVE TO WAIT
ON WHETHER TO ADD YORK COUNTY.  BUT PIVOT POINT ON NEW ETA APPRS TO
BE A BIT FURTHER EAST SO +TSRA SHUD MOVE THRU YORK B4 STALLING E OF
THE RIVER.  IF TSTM COMPLEX BEGINS SLOWING DOWN WILL COORD EXPANSION
OF FFA.

HEAD

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 13, 11:00 AM EDT, 4 hours 56 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...FLASH FLOOD WATCH
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
1100 AM EDT SAT JUN 13 1998

...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WATCH
THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN CENTRAL
PENNSYLVANIA... SCHUYLKILL... LEBANON... DAUPHIN... AND LANCASTER.

HEAVY RAINFALL OVERNIGHT HAS SATURATED THE GROUND AND RAISED STREAM
LEVELS TO NEAR BANK FULL.  RAIN IS CONTINUING OVER THE REGION AND
EXPECTED TO BECOME HEAVIER LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.  THIS
MAY RESULT IN SMALL STREAM FLOODING.

A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS THAT FLASH FLOODING IS A POSSIBILITY...
NOT A CERTAINTY.  PERSONS IN FLOOD PRONE AREAS SHOULD KEEP A
WATCHFUL EYE ON STREAMS AND CREEKS IN THEIR AREA AND MOVE TO HIGHER
GROUND IF A WARNING IS ISSUED LATER TODAY OR THIS EVENING.

HEAD

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 13, 11:16 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPSomerset59 min
Jun 13, 12:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPBlair47 min
Jun 13, 5:09 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPSchuylkill3 hr
Jun 13, 5:09 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPLancaster3 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.