Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 331, NWS Pittsburgh, PA
NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 7, 1998, 7:43 AM EDT for Columbiana County, Ohio; Lawrence County, Mercer County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 43 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
- Sep 7, 1998, 7:43 AM EDT (11:43 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 7, 1998, 8:26 AM EDT
- In force
- 43 min
- Issued by
- NWS Pittsburgh, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Columbiana County, OH, Lawrence County, PA, Mercer County, PA
The radar
The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 58 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 11:45 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 7, 7:58 AM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Sharon, PA | Thunderstorm winds downed several large trees. |
| Sep 7, 8:10 AM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | New Lebanon, PA | Microburst winds estimated at up to 70 MPH downed between 40 to 50 trees. A few outbuildings were destroyed. Some minor roof damage to homes was noted. Several cars were damaged by falling trees. The majority of damage was centered along Mill Creek. |
| Sep 7, 8:15 AM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | New Wilmington, PA | Thunderstorm winds downed several large tree limbs. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 7, 5:00 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 00:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 74 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
- 511 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -124 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2224 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 21 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 115 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 192 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
571 WUUS1 KPIT 071146 RRA SVRPIT OHC029-PAC073-085-071226- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 743 AM EDT MON SEP 7 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... LAWRENCE COUNTY IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA. MERCER COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA. COLUMBIANA COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL OHIO. * UNTIL 826 AM EDT. * AT 745 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 15 MILES WEST OF SHARON AND MOUNT JACKSON... MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. * THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... SALEM AT 745 AM. SHARON AT 755 AM. MERCER AT 810 AM. NEW CASTLE 810 AM. GREENVILLE AT 800 AM. <<CALL TO ACTION>>DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE LIKELY. GO INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS .END/END
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, 5:10 AM EDT, 2 hours 33 minutes before
OHZ039>041-048>050-057>059-068-069-PAZ029-031-WVZ001>004-012-021-022- 071600- SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 510 AM EDT MON SEP 7 1998 ...STRONG OR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE TODAY ACROSS WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA...EAST CENTRAL OHIO...NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA AND GARRETT COUNTY MARYLAND... THUNDERSTORMS WITH STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HAIL AND HEAVY DOWNPOURS ARE EXPECTED TODAY AS A COLD FRONT MOVES SOUTHEAST THROUGH THE AREA. THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE STORMS SHOULD BE DUE TO STRONG GUSTY THUNDERSTORM WINDS EXCEEDING 40 MPH AND HAIL. IN ADDITION...FREQUENT LIGHTNING CAN ALSO BE EXPECTED. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS ALREADY BEEN ISSUED FOR CARROLL... COLUMBIANA AND TUSCARAWAS COUNTIES IN EAST CENTRAL OHIO UNTIL 10 AM THIS MORNING. THERE IS A GOOD POSSIBILITY THAT FUTURE WATCHES MAY BE ISSUED FOR OTHER PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA. A SLOWLY MOVING COLD FRONT APPROACHING FROM THE GREAT LAKES WILL SAG SOUTHWARD INTO OUR AREA THIS MORNING. LATE THIS AFTERNOON OR EVENING THE COLD FRONT WILL MOVE SOUTH INTO NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA. SKYWARN ACTIVATION IS LIKELY THROUGHOUT THE DAY. TUNE TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER WEATHER $UPDATES. THESE ARE ALSO AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB SITE AT WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/ER/PIT DE MARIS/GIORDANO
Special weather statement, Sep 7, 5:10 AM EDT, 2 hours 33 minutes before
OHZ039>041-048>050-057>059-068-069-PAZ029-031-WVZ001>004-012-021-022- 071600- SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 510 AM EDT MON SEP 7 1998 ...STRONG OR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE TODAY ACROSS WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA...EAST CENTRAL OHIO...NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA AND GARRETT COUNTY MARYLAND... THUNDERSTORMS WITH STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HAIL AND HEAVY DOWNPOURS ARE EXPECTED TODAY AS A COLD FRONT MOVES SOUTHEAST THROUGH THE AREA. THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE STORMS SHOULD BE DUE TO STRONG GUSTY THUNDERSTORM WINDS EXCEEDING 40 MPH AND HAIL. IN ADDITION...FREQUENT LIGHTNING CAN ALSO BE EXPECTED. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS ALREADY BEEN ISSUED FOR CARROLL... COLUMBIANA AND TUSCARAWAS COUNTIES IN EAST CENTRAL OHIO UNTIL 10 AM THIS MORNING. THERE IS A GOOD POSSIBILITY THAT FUTURE WATCHES MAY BE ISSUED FOR OTHER PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA. A SLOWLY MOVING COLD FRONT APPROACHING FROM THE GREAT LAKES WILL SAG SOUTHWARD INTO OUR AREA THIS MORNING. LATE THIS AFTERNOON OR EVENING THE COLD FRONT WILL MOVE SOUTH INTO NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA. SKYWARN ACTIVATION IS LIKELY THROUGHOUT THE DAY. TUNE TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER WEATHER $UPDATES. THESE ARE ALSO AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB SITE AT WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/ER/PIT DE MARIS/GIORDANO
The office that day
Everything else NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 7, 7:35 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Belmont, Guernsey, Noble | 42 min |
| Sep 7, 8:14 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Belmont, Jefferson | 46 min |
| Sep 7, 4:23 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Noble | 57 min |
| Sep 7, 5:04 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Monroe | 46 min |
| Sep 7, 8:12 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Butler, Venango | 56 min |
| Sep 7, 8:20 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Lawrence | 40 min |
| Sep 7, 8:38 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Allegheny, Beaver, Washington | 57 min |
| Sep 7, 8:46 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Clarion, Forest | 59 min |
| Sep 7, 9:01 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Fayette, Westmoreland | 59 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1998Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Ohio, 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.