Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 26, NWS Pittsburgh, PA
NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this tornado warning at Jun 26, 1998, 5:58 PM EDT for Washington County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 47 min. 4 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
- Jun 26, 1998, 5:58 PM EDT (21:58 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 26, 1998, 6:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 47 min
- Issued by
- NWS Pittsburgh, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Washington County, PA
The radar
The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 38 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:00 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 26, 6:15 PM EDT | Hail 0.75 | Midway, PA | |
| Jun 26, 6:16 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Lawrence Hills, PA | Thunderstorm winds blew several trees and power lines down. |
| Jun 26, 6:20 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Mc Murray, PA | Thunderstorm winds blew several trees and power lines down. |
| Jun 26, 6:30 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Canonsburg, PA | Thunderstorm winds blew several trees and power lines down. |
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, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 28 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
- 3262 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -12 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 666 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 41 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 214 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 222 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 3.4
- Supercell composite
- 15.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
342 WFUS1 KPIT 262200 RRA TORPIT PAC125-262243- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 558 PM EDT FRI JUN 26 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... WASHINGTON COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA. * UNTIL 645 PM EDT. * AT 600 PM EDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR THE TOWN OF...NEAR MUSE...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH. * THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR... LAWRENCE AT 610 PM EDT. MCMURRAY AT 615 PM EDT. GASTONVILLE AT 620 PM EDT. <<CALL TO ACTION>>GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR .END/STRAGER
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
In the hours before
Local storm report, Jun 26, 1:22 PM EDT, 4 hours 36 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PENNSYLVANIA
122 PM EDT FRI JUN 26 1998
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0117 PM WOODSFIELD OH 1 INCH HAIL
06/26/98 MONROELocal storm report, Jun 26, 1:22 PM EDT, 4 hours 36 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PENNSYLVANIA
122 PM EDT FRI JUN 26 1998
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0117 PM WOODSFIELD OH 1 INCH HAIL
06/26/98 MONROELocal storm report, Jun 26, 2:31 PM EDT, 3 hours 27 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PENNSYLVANIA
231 PM EDT FRI JUN 26 1998
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0222 PM DAYBROOK WV WIND DAMAGE
06/26/98 MONONGALIA LARGE TREE LIMBS DOWNLocal storm report, Jun 26, 3:17 PM EDT, 2 hours 41 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PENNSYLVANIA
317 PM EDT FRI JUN 26 1998
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0240 PM MORGANTOWN WV WIND DAMAGE
06/26/98 MONONGALIA LARGE LIMBS DOWN
0300 PM TERRA ALTA WV WIND DAMAGE
06/26/98 PRESTON TREES DOWN
0315 PM FRIENDSVILLE MD WIND DAMAGE
06/26/98 GARRETT TREES DOWNLocal storm report, Jun 26, 3:55 PM EDT, 2 hours 3 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PENNSYLVANIA
355 PM EDT FRI JUN 26 1998
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0220 PM COUNTY-WIDE WV WIND DAMAGE
06/26/98 MARION TREES DOWN COUNTY-WIDE. A
COUPLE OF TREES FELL INTO
HOMES.The office that day
Everything else NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 26, 2:35 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Fayette | 45 min |
| Jun 26, 5:14 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Washington | 56 min |
| Jun 26, 5:40 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Allegheny | 60 min |
| Jun 26, 5:57 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Westmoreland | 63 min |
| Jun 26, 6:39 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | PBZ | Washington | 3 hr |
| Jun 26, 7:18 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Washington | 58 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Pennsylvania, 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.