Alert archive / New Jersey / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 74, NWS New York, NY

September 7, 1998Passaic County, New Jersey

NWS New York, NY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 7, 1998, 1:41 PM EDT for Passaic County, New Jersey. It was in force for 49 min. 2 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
Sep 7, 1998, 1:41 PM EDT (17:41 UTC)
Expired
Sep 7, 1998, 2:30 PM EDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS New York, NY
Area
Whole counties

County Passaic County, NJ

The radar

The Philadelphia radar (KDIX), 121 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:41 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
Sep 7, 2:00 PM EDTHail 0.75West Milford, NJ
Sep 7, 2:27 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 52Clifton, NJ

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Sep 7, 1:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Brookhaven, NY (KOKX), launched 12:00Z, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 122 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, Brookhaven, NY at 12:00Z on 1998-09-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 242 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, Brookhaven, NY at 12:00Z on 1998-09-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 8 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
242 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-232 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1668 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
155 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KNYC 071743 RRA
SVRNYC
NJC031-071830-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
141 PM EDT MON SEP 7 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEW YORK HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  WESTERN PASSAIC COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN NEW JERSEY

* UNTIL 230 PM EDT

* AN AREA OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER SUSSEX COUNTY WERE
  APPROACHING FROM THE WEST AND IS MOVING QUICKLY EAST AROUND 50
  MPH. THESE STORMS HAVE A HISTORY OF PRODUCING WIND GUSTS IN
  EXCESS OF 58 MPH AND LARGE HAIL.


IN ADDITION TO LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS... EXTREMELY INTENSE
LIGHTNING IS ALSO LIKELY WITH THIS STORM. IF OUTDOORS... STAY
AWAY FROM TALL OBJECTS. MOVE INDOORS IF POSSIBLE. WHEN INDOORS...
STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS AND DOORS AND AVOID USING THE TELEPHONES
AND ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT. STAY OUT OF YOUR BATHTUB OR SHOWER
BECAUSE LIGHTNING CAN TRAVEL THROUGH WATER PIPES.

PW

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, Sep 7, 7:47 AM EDT, 5 hours 54 minutes before
NYZ067>081-NJZ002>006-011-CTZ005-012-072100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW YORK NY
745 AM EDT MON SEP 7 1998

...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE/S SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR
EARLY THIS MORNING HAS BEEN CANCELED...BUT THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON REMAINS...

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS DEFINED AS A STORM THAT IS ACCOMPANIED BY
WIND OF AT LEAST 58 MILES AN HOUR AND/OR HAIL OF THREE QUARTERS OF
AN INCH OR MORE IN DIAMETER. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE THE ADDED
DANGER OF PRODUCING STRUCTURAL DAMAGE TO PROPERTY AND CAN EASILY
SNAP TREE LIMBS OR COMPLETELY KNOCK OVER THE LARGEST OF TREES.

A COLD FRONT SLIDING SOUTHEAST ACROSS NEW YORK STATE IS THE CULPRIT
FOR TODAY/S SEVERE WEATHER. THE COLD FRONT IS THE LEADING EDGE OF
MUCH COOLER CANADIAN AIR THAT IS COLLIDING WITH THE WARM HUMID AIR
THAT IS CURRENTLY OVER OUR REGION. THIS FRONT HAS SPARKED A LARGE
AREA OF SEVERE WEATHER ACROSS UPSTATE NEW YORK THIS MORNING WHERE
WINDS IN EXCESS OF 90 MPH HAVE ALREADY OCCURRED!  THERE WAS DAMAGE
AND UNFORTUNATELY THERE APPEARS TO HAVE BEEN SOME FATALITIES.

THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER FOR US WILL COME THIS AFTERNOON AS
THE COLD FRONT APPROACHES. AS THE THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER
INCREASES...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL ISSUE A WATCH. A WATCH
MEANS THAT YOU SHOULD HEIGHTEN YOUR WEATHER AWARENESS AS THE
POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER HAS INCREASED AND CONDITIONS ARE
FAVORABLE FOR DEVELOPMENT. IF SEVERE WEATHER BECOMES IMMINENT OR IS
OCCURRING...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL ISSUE WARNINGS.

TODAY/S STORMS WILL BE MOVING IN FROM THE WEST EXTREMELY QUICKLY AT
SPEEDS OF UP TO 50 MPH.  IF YOU SPOT A THUNDERSTORM TODAY TO
YOUR WEST OR NORTHWEST...OR HERE THAT A WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR
YOUR AREA...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. THE SAFEST PLACE IS IN AN
INTERIOR ROOM OR...IF YOU HAVE ONE...A BASEMENT.

ALSO REMEMBER...LIGHTNING KILLS MORE PEOPLE IN THUNDERSTORMS THAN
ANY OTHER ELEMENT OF THE STORM...SO TREAT IT WITH GREAT RESPECT.

PLEASE STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR COMMERCIAL MEDIA FOR THE
LATEST ON THIS DANGEROUS SITUATION. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THIVS
EVENT AND ALL OTHER TYPES OF LOCAL RELATED WEATHER CAN BE FOUND ON
YOUR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEB SITE AT WWW.NWS.BNL.GOV

TONGUE

The office that day

Everything else NWS New York, NY issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 7, 1:54 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOKXBergen, Passaic46 min
Sep 7, 2:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOKXEssex, Union47 min
Sep 7, 2:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOKXHudson47 min
Sep 7, 2:20 PM EDTTornado WarningOKXEssex, Union35 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in New Jersey, 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.