Alert archive / New Hampshire / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Gray, ME

May 20, 1998Strafford County, New Hampshire

NWS Gray, ME issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 20, 1998, 8:24 PM EDT for Strafford County, New Hampshire. It was in force for 31 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 20, 1998, 8:24 PM EDT (00:24 UTC)
Expired
May 20, 1998, 8:55 PM EDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Gray, ME
Area
Whole counties

County Strafford County, NH

The radar

The Portland,ME radar (KGYX), 91 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:26 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Gray, ME (KGYX), launched 00:00Z, 0.4 hours before the alert went out and 90 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, Gray, ME at 00:00Z on 1998-05-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2 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, Gray, ME at 00:00Z on 1998-05-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 118 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
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-232 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2176 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
118 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
152 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

568 
WUUS1 KPWM 210027 RRA
SVRPWM
NHC017-210055-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME
824 PM EDT WED MAY 20 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAY HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  STRAFFORD COUNTY IN CENTRAL NEW HAMPSHIRE

* UNTIL 855 PM EDT

* AT 820 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR JUST WEST OF BOW LAKE...MOVING EAST AT 30
  MPH.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ACCOMPANIED BY LARGE HAIL...GUSTY WINDS AND
HEAVY RAIN WILL CROSS STRAFFORD COUNTY.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

HJL

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.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 20, 3:28 PM EDT, 4 hours 56 minutes before
MEZ007-012-018-019-NHZ001>010-013-202225-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME
328 PM EDT WED MAY 20 1998

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE OVER NEW HAMPSHIRE AND WESTERN
MAINE...

A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WHICH DEVELOPED OVER EASTERN NEW YORK AND
VERMONT DURING THE MID AFTERNOON HOURS WILL CROSS INTO NEW
HAMPSHIRE AND WESTERN MAINE THIS EVENING.  THE STRONGEST STORMS ARE
EXPECTED ALONG THE CONNECTICUT RIVER VALLEY...THE STORZMS SHOULD
THEN WEAKEN AS THEY MOVE TOWARD THE MAINE BORDER.  THESE STORMS MAY
BE ACCOMPANIED BY HAIL...STRONG WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN.  PEOPLE OUT
DOORS THIS EVENING SHOULD SEEK SHELTER IF THREATENING WEATHER
APPROACHES.

LULOFS
Special weather statement, May 20, 3:28 PM EDT, 4 hours 56 minutes before
MEZ007-012-018-019-NHZ001>010-013-202225-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME
328 PM EDT WED MAY 20 1998

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE OVER NEW HAMPSHIRE AND WESTERN
MAINE...

A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WHICH DEVELOPED OVER EASTERN NEW YORK AND
VERMONT DURING THE MID AFTERNOON HOURS WILL CROSS INTO NEW
HAMPSHIRE AND WESTERN MAINE THIS EVENING.  THE STRONGEST STORMS ARE
EXPECTED ALONG THE CONNECTICUT RIVER VALLEY...THE STORZMS SHOULD
THEN WEAKEN AS THEY MOVE TOWARD THE MAINE BORDER.  THESE STORMS MAY
BE ACCOMPANIED BY HAIL...STRONG WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN.  PEOPLE OUT
DOORS THIS EVENING SHOULD SEEK SHELTER IF THREATENING WEATHER
APPROACHES.

LULOFS

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in New Hampshire, 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.