Alert archive / Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Baltimore/Washington

June 2, 1998Frederick County, City of Winchester, Virginia

NWS Baltimore/Washington issued this tornado warning at Jun 2, 1998, 8:54 PM EDT for Frederick County, City of Winchester, Virginia. It was in force for 51 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: Jun 2, 1998, 8:54 PM EDT (00:54 UTC)
Expired: Jun 2, 1998, 9:45 PM EDT
In force: 51 min
Issued by: NWS Baltimore/Washington
Area: Whole counties

Counties City of Winchester, VA, Frederick County, VA

The radar

The Sterling radar (KLWX), 67 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:56 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
Jun 2, 9:22 PM EDT	Hail 0.75	White Hall, VA

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
Jun 2, 6:45 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 00:00Z, 0.9 hours before the alert went out and 75 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: 1513 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -23 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1158 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 229 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 416 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 2.2
Supercell composite: 11.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KWBC 030054 RRA
TORWBC
VAC069-840-030140-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE/WASHINGTON
854 PM EDT TUE JUN 2 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STERLING VA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN FREDERICK COUNTY VA
  CITY OF WINCHESTER VA

* UNTIL 945 PM EDT

* AT 855 PM EDT... A TORNADO WAS INDICATED OVER NORTHERN HAMPSHIRE
  COUNTY NEAR THE TOWN OF LEVELS.... BY DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR AND
  WEATHER SPOTTERS... MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

* LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL REPORTED A TORNADO ON THE GROUND NEAR
  THE TOWN OF LEVELS IN NORTHERN HAMPSHIRE COUNTY. THE STORM WILL
  MOVE SOUTHEAST INTO NORTH FREDERICK COUNTY DURING THE NEXT HALF
  HOUR. THE CURRENT STORM TRACK WILL TAKE THE STORM CLOSE TO THE
  NORTHERN SUBURBS OF WINCHESTER. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A BASEMENT. IF YOU
DON'T 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.




&

The office that day

Everything else NWS Baltimore/Washington issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 2, 9:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Clarke	49 min
Jun 2, 9:43 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Loudoun	62 min
Jun 2, 9:55 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Loudoun	50 min
Jun 2, 10:24 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	LWX	Frederick, City of Winchester	46 min
Jun 2, 11:06 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Clarke	49 min
Jun 2, 11:29 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LWX	Fauquier	46 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Virginia, 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.