Alert archive / California / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Hanford, CA

August 31, 1998Kern County, California

NWS Hanford, CA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 31, 1998, 3:07 PM PDT for Kern County, California. It was in force for 58 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
Aug 31, 1998, 3:07 PM PDT (22:07 UTC)
Expired
Aug 31, 1998, 4:05 PM PDT
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Hanford, CA
Area
Whole counties

County Kern County, CA

The radar

The Edwards AFB radar (KEYX), 110 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:07 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 31, 3:30 PM PDTThunderstorm WindLake Isabella, CA

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

Lompoc (Awos), CA (KLPC), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 170 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, Lompoc (Awos), CA at 12:00Z on 1998-08-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 419 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, Lompoc (Awos), CA at 12:00Z on 1998-08-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 6 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
419 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-160 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2792 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
36 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.

793 
WUUS1 KFAT 312208 RRA
SVRFAT
CAC029-312305-

BULLETIN-EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JOAQUIN VALLEY - HANFORD CA
307 PM PDT MON AUG 31 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HANFORD HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN AND CENTRAL KERN COUNTY IN CENTRAL CALIFORNIA

* UNTIL 405 PM PDT

* AT 300 PM PDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES EAST OF MOUNTAIN MESA WHICH IS 15
  MILES WEST OF INYOKERN...MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 10 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE...
  IN THE PIUTE MOUNTAINS AT 400 PM.

DAMAGING WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN ARE LIKELY. AVOID DRY CREEKS AND
WASHES THAT MAY SUDDENLY FLOOD. IF YOU ARE OUTDOORS MOVE INTO
A STURDY BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS

MENDENHALL

The office that day

Everything else NWS Hanford, CA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 31, 3:07 PM PDTFlash Flood WarningHNXKern58 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in California, 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.