Alert archive / Kentucky / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 30, NWS Louisville, KY

May 31, 1998Henry County, Kentucky

NWS Louisville, KY issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1998, 5:19 PM EDT for Henry County, Kentucky. It was in force for 31 min. 3 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, 5:19 PM EDT (21:19 UTC)
Expired: May 31, 1998, 5:50 PM EDT
In force: 31 min
Issued by: NWS Louisville, KY
Area: Whole counties

County Henry County, KY

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where
May 31, 5:40 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 60	Franklinton, KY
May 31, 5:50 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 60	Franklinton, KY
May 31, 6:00 PM EDT	Hail 0.75	Lockport, KY

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, 4:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 158 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1259 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -256 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 874 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 106 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 206 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

455 
WFUS1 KSDF 312120 RRA
TORSDF
KYC103-312150-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
519 PM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LOUISVILLE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  HENRY COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY

* UNTIL 550 PM EDT

* AT 515 PM EDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO NEAR THE TRIMBLE...HENRY COUNTY LINE NEAR THE TOWN OF
  SLIGO...25 MILES NORTHEAST OF LOUISVILLE... MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35
  MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  NEW CASTLE BY 530 PM
  EMMINENCE BY 545 PM EDT

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

FUNK

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 31, 4:23 PM EDT, 56 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KENTUCKY
423 PM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0420 PM    LITTLE YORK               IN   1 INCH HAIL
05/31/98   WASHINGTON                     REPORT FROM DES

Local storm report, May 31, 4:31 PM EDT, 48 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KENTUCKY
431 PM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0430 PM    AUSTIN                    IN   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/31/98   SCOTT                          REPORT FROM NWS SPOTTER

Local storm report, May 31, 5:13 PM EDT, 6 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KENTUCKY
513 PM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0430 PM    SCOTTSBURG                IN   WIND DAMAGE
05/31/98   SCOTT                          TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN
                                          ACROSS THE COUNTY. REPORT
                                          FROM LOCAL SHERIFF.

0455 PM    MILTON                    KY   60 MPH TSTM GUST
05/31/98   TRIMBLE                        REPORT FROM NWS SPOTTER

0457 PM    VIENNA                    IN   TORNADO
05/31/98   SCOTT                          TORNADO REPORTED EAST OF
                                          VIENNA ON HIGHWAY 256.
                                          REPORTED BY POLICE AND
                                          FIRE DEPARTMENTS. RELAYED
                                          THROUGH DES.

0500 PM    MILTON                    KY   .75 INCH HAIL
05/31/98   TRIMBLE                        REPORT FROM LAGRANGE STATE
                                          POLICE.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Louisville, KY issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 31, 4:45 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Trimble	45 min
May 31, 5:04 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LMK	Trimble	26 min
May 31, 5:53 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Breckinridge	37 min
May 31, 5:56 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Henry	34 min
May 31, 6:02 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Bullitt, Jefferson	43 min
May 31, 6:06 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LMK	Hardin	39 min
May 31, 6:06 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LMK	Bullitt	39 min
May 31, 6:06 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LMK	Bullitt, Hardin	49 min
May 31, 6:10 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Meade	35 min
May 31, 6:38 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Hardin, Nelson	42 min
May 31, 7:04 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Marion, Washington	41 min
May 31, 7:10 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Larue	35 min
May 31, 7:14 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LMK	Hardin, Larue	36 min
May 31, 7:14 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LMK	Hardin, Larue	31 min
May 31, 7:32 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Clark	28 min
May 31, 7:46 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LMK	Marion	29 min
May 31, 7:47 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LMK	Taylor	43 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kentucky, 1998 Every tornado warning in 1998 Tornadoes 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.