Alert archive / West Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 80, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

May 31, 1998Hancock County, West Virginia

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 31, 1998, 6:03 PM EDT for Hancock County, West Virginia. It was in force for 42 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, 6:03 PM EDT (22:03 UTC)
Expired: May 31, 1998, 6:45 PM EDT
In force: 42 min
Issued by: NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area: Whole counties

County Hancock County, WV

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 31, 6:15 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Countywide, WV	Trees and power lines were downed throughout the county.

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 nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 42 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: 1035 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -145 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1038 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 198 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 281 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.3
Supercell composite: 4.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, May 31, 2:55 PM EDT, 3 hours 8 minutes before

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Special weather statement, May 31, 3:50 PM EDT, 2 hours 13 minutes before

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Special weather statement, May 31, 3:50 PM EDT, 2 hours 13 minutes before

OHZ039>041-048>050-057-058-PAZ007>009-013>016-020>023-030-WVZ001-
010200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
350 PM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 10PM TONIGHT...

THE TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10PM FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES

IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA...

ALLEGHENY ARMSTRONG BEAVER BUTLER LAWRENCE WESTMORELAND INDIANA
MERCER VENANGO CLARION FOREST JEFFERSON

IN THE PANHANDLE OF NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA...

HANCOCK

IN EAST CENTRAL OHIO...

CARROLL COLUMBIANA COSHOCTON MUSKINGUM JEFFERSON HARRISON
TUSCARAWAS GUERNSEY

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE AREA AS THE RESULT OF A MOIST
UNSTABLE AIRMASS ACROSS THE REGION PRECEDING A COLD FRONT WHICH
WILL DROP ACROSS THE AREA DURING THE EVENING.

REMEMBER A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER AND LISTEN FOR FURTHER UPDATES AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

THE GREATEST THREAT WITH THE POTENTIAL STORM ACTIVITY WILL BE
DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH AND LARGE HAIL. THIS IS A
DANGEROUS WEATHER SITUATION AND PEOPLES LIVING IN AND CLOSE TO THE
WATCH AREA SHOULD BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION QUICKLY.  HEAVY
DOWNPOURS AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING ARE ALSO POSSIBLE THIS EVENING.

PLEASE STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OTHER MEDIA OUTLETS OR
CONTACT OUR WEB SITE AT WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/ER/PIT.

REDMOND/SISK

Local storm report, May 31, 5:49 PM EDT, 14 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PENNSYLVANIA
549 PM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

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

0545 PM    5 W NEW BEDFORD           OH   WIND DAMAGE
05/31/98   COSHOCTON                      LARGE TREE DOWN AND POWER
                                          LINES DOWN

Local storm report, May 31, 5:54 PM EDT, 9 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PENNSYLVANIA
554 PM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

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

0550 PM    HARLEM SPGS               OH   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/31/98   CARROLL

Local storm report, May 31, 6:01 PM EDT, 2 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PENNSYLVANIA
601 PM EDT SUN MAY 31 1998

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

0550 PM    DOVER                     OH   WIND DAMAGE
05/31/98   TUSCARAWAS                     LARGE TREES DOWN

The office that day

Everything else NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 31, 4:52 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Coshocton	68 min
May 31, 5:28 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Tuscarawas	47 min
May 31, 5:41 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Carroll, Harrison	64 min
May 31, 5:56 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Columbiana, Jefferson	49 min
May 31, 6:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Belmont	49 min
May 31, 6:40 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Jefferson	50 min
May 31, 6:13 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Allegheny, Beaver, Washington	62 min
May 31, 6:48 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Forest, Mercer, Venango	57 min
May 31, 6:56 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Allegheny, Westmoreland	64 min
May 31, 6:59 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Washington	51 min
May 31, 7:15 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	PBZ	Washington	45 min
May 31, 7:20 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Clarion	55 min
May 31, 7:33 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Fayette, Greene	57 min
May 31, 7:45 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	PBZ	Fayette	45 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in West Virginia, 1998 Every 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.