Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 3, NWS State College, PA
NWS State College, PA issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1998, 12:50 PM EDT for Warren County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 60 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, 12:50 PM EDT (16:50 UTC)
- Expired
- May 31, 1998, 1:50 PM EDT
- In force
- 60 min
- Issued by
- NWS State College, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Warren County, PA
The radar
The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 134 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:53 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 31, 1:10 PM EDT | Hail 0.88 | Lottsville, PA | Nickel size hail fell. |
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
Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 4.8 hours before the alert went out and 171 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
828 WFUS01 KCTP 311648 RRA TORCTP PAC123-311750- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 1250 PM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... WARREN COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA * UNTIL 150 PM EDT * AT 1243 PM EDT... STATE COLLEGE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 51 MILES WEST OF WARREN OR 10 MILES WEST OF PITTSFIELD MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH. * THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR... PITTSFIELD BY 1245 PM EDT SPRING CREEK BY 110 PM EDT GRAND VALLEY BY 115 PM EDT LOTTSVILLE BY 120 PM EDT GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OSTUNO
The office that day
Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 1:24 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | McKean | 61 min |
| May 31, 3:29 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Cameron | 46 min |
| May 31, 3:58 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Potter | 32 min |
| May 31, 4:25 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Lycoming, Sullivan | 65 min |
| May 31, 5:12 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Warren | 48 min |
| May 31, 5:22 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CTP | Lycoming | 33 min |
| May 31, 5:35 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CTP | Columbia, Sullivan | 50 min |
| May 31, 6:26 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CTP | McKean | 34 min |
| May 31, 6:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Warren | 61 min |
| May 31, 6:50 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Potter | 65 min |
| May 31, 7:07 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Elk, McKean | 63 min |
| May 31, 7:20 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Tioga | 65 min |
| May 31, 7:20 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Cameron | 65 min |
| May 31, 7:28 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CTP | Elk | 62 min |
| May 31, 7:35 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CTP | Tioga | 50 min |
| May 31, 7:53 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CTP | Cameron | 62 min |
| May 31, 7:56 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Potter | 64 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes 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.