Alert archive / Maryland / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 2, NWS Baltimore/Washington
NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1998, 9:45 PM EDT for Allegany County, Maryland. It was in force for 30 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, 9:45 PM EDT (01:45 UTC)
- Expired
- May 31, 1998, 10:15 PM EDT
- In force
- 30 min
- Issued by
- NWS Baltimore/Washington
- Area
- Whole counties
County Allegany County, MD
The radar
The Sterling radar (KLWX), 127 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:48 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 10:00 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Flintstone, MD |
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, 6:30 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 7 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 00:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 134 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
- 3110 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -29 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1063 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 30 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 203 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 277 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 3.0
- Supercell composite
- 18.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
216 WFUS1 KWBC 010144 RRA TORWBC MDC001-010215- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON 945 PM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VA HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... NORTHERN ALLEGANY COUNTY MD * UNTIL 1015 PM EDT * AT 940 PM EDT... A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS INDICATED OVER NORTHERN ALLEGANY COUNTY NEAR THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE LINE AND THE NEAR THE TOWN OF FLINTSTONE...BY DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR... MOVING EAST- SOUTHEAST AT 40 MPH. * THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING TORNADOES AND DAMAGE IN SOUTHERN PENNSYLVANIA. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A BASEMENT. IF YOU DONT HAVE A BASEMENT...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUILDING. AVOID WINDOWS...DOORS AND OUTSIDE WALLS. ABANDON MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES FOR A BUILDING. STAY TUNED TO TV...RADIO AND NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR UPDATES AND WARNINGS. JLW/ADS
The office that day
Everything else NWS Baltimore/Washington issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 10:00 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Washington | 60 min |
| Jun 1, 12:07 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Carroll, Frederick | 63 min |
| Jun 1, 12:13 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Baltimore | 62 min |
| Jun 1, 12:35 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | City of Baltimore | 65 min |
| Jun 1, 12:35 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Howard | 65 min |
| Jun 1, 12:35 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LWX | Harford | 65 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Maryland, 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.