Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 4, NWS State College, PA

May 31, 1998Lycoming County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1998, 5:22 PM EDT for Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 33 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, 5:22 PM EDT (21:22 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1998, 5:55 PM EDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Lycoming County, PA

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 31, 5:30 PM EDTHail 1Buttonwood, PA1 inch hail fell in Buttonwood.

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, 5:00 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 268 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 1998-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 917 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 1998-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 53 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
917 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-147 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1159 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
53 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
83 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

470 
WFUS01 KCTP 312120 RRA
TORCTP
PAC081-312155-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
522 PM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN LYCOMING COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 555 PM EDT

* AT 523 PM EDT... STATE COLLEGE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO
  18 MILES SOUTH OF MANSFIELD OR IN THE VICINITY OF MARSH HILL
  MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  MARSH HILL                      BY 525 PM EDT
  RALSTON                         BY 525 PM EDT

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR

LA CORTE/WINTHER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 31, 12:50 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPWarren60 min
May 31, 1:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPMcKean61 min
May 31, 3:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCameron46 min
May 31, 3:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPPotter32 min
May 31, 4:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLycoming, Sullivan65 min
May 31, 5:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPWarren48 min
May 31, 5:35 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPColumbia, Sullivan50 min
May 31, 6:26 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPMcKean34 min
May 31, 6:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPWarren61 min
May 31, 6:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPPotter65 min
May 31, 7:07 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPElk, McKean63 min
May 31, 7:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPTioga65 min
May 31, 7:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCameron65 min
May 31, 7:28 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPElk62 min
May 31, 7:35 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPTioga50 min
May 31, 7:53 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPCameron62 min
May 31, 7:56 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPPotter64 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.