Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 6, NWS State College, PA
NWS State College, PA issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1998, 6:26 PM EDT for McKean County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 34 min. 2 reports 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, 6:26 PM EDT (22:26 UTC)
- Expired
- May 31, 1998, 7:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 34 min
- Issued by
- NWS State College, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
County McKean County, PA
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 6:30 PM EDT | Hail 0.75 | Bradford, PA | Hail broke the windshield of a police car. |
| May 31, 6:35 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 51 | Smethport, PA | Trees were blown down north of Smethport. |
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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 3:30 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 7 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 202 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.
972 WFUS01 KCTP 312224 RRA TORCTP PAC083-312300- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 626 PM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... NORTHERN MCKEAN COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA * UNTIL 700 PM EDT * AT 625 PM EDT... STATE COLLEGE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 5 MILES WEST OF BRADFORD OR 4 MILES NORTHWEST OF DEGOLIA MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH. * THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR... LEWIS RUN BY 627 PM EDT DEGOLIA BY 627 PM EDT BRADFORD BY 625 PM EDT SMETHPORT BY 645 PM EDT ELDRED BY 650 PM EDT GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR THESE STORMS HAVE PRODUCED TORNADOES AND MAY DO SO AGAIN. IT IS ADVISABLE TO MOVE TO SHELTER NOW...BEFORE LIFE-THREATENING WEATHER REACHES YOUR AREA. LA CORTE&
The office that day
Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 12:50 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CTP | Warren | 60 min |
| 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, 6:44 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.