Alert archive / West Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 2, NWS Pittsburgh, PA
NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this tornado warning at May 24, 1998, 6:27 PM EDT for Marshall County, West Virginia. It was in force for 33 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- May 24, 1998, 6:27 PM EDT (22:27 UTC)
- Expired
- May 24, 1998, 7:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 33 min
- Issued by
- NWS Pittsburgh, PA
- Area
- Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction
County Marshall County, WV
The radar
The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:28 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 24, 6:30 PM EDT | Hail 1.5 | Cameron, WV | |
| May 24, 6:30 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Cameron, WV |
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, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 72 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1932 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 46 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 46 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 115 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
939
WFUS1 KPIT 242229 RRA
TORPIT
WVC051-242300-
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
627 PM EDT SUN MAY 24 1998
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A
* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
MARSHALL COUNTY IN WEST VIRGINIA
* UNTIL 700 PM EDT
* AT 623 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
THUNDERSTORM WITH A TORNADO 3 MILES NORTH OF CAMERON...OR ABOUT
9 MILES SOUTHEAST OF MOUNDSVILLE...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35
MILES PER HOUR.
* TORNADO WILL BE...
11 MILES EAST OF CAMERON AT 645 PM EDT
THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
LAT...LON 3998 8061 3981 8070 3973 8053 3992 8054
KANEThe office that day
Everything else NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 24, 5:55 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Marshall | 38 min |
| May 24, 6:06 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | PBZ | Marshall | 24 min |
| May 24, 6:52 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Monongalia | 38 min |
| May 24, 7:15 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Marion | 45 min |
| May 24, 7:22 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | PBZ | Monongalia | 38 min |
| May 24, 7:39 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Tucker | 66 min |
| May 24, 7:42 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Preston | 63 min |
| May 24, 7:57 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Monongalia | 33 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in West Virginia, 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.