Alert archive / West Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 3, NWS Pittsburgh, PA
NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this tornado warning at May 24, 1998, 7:22 PM EDT for Monongalia County, West Virginia. It was in force for 38 min. 1 report 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, 7:22 PM EDT (23:22 UTC)
- Expired
- May 24, 1998, 8:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 38 min
- Issued by
- NWS Pittsburgh, PA
- Area
- Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction
County Monongalia County, WV
The radar
The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 108 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:23 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, 8:10 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Westover, WV | Thunderstorm winds flipped a mobile home and destroyed a garage. Several trees were also uprooted. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 24, 7:00 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 94 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.
298
WFUS1 KPIT 242326 RRA
TORPIT
WVC061-250000-
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
722 PM EDT SUN MAY 24 1998
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A
* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
MONONGALIA COUNTY IN WEST VIRGINIA
* UNTIL 800 PM EDT
* AT 713 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
THUNDERSTORM WITH A TORNADO OVER WEST CENTRAL
MONONGALIA COUNTY...OR ABOUT 10 MILES WEST OF
MORGANTOWN...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MILES PER HOUR.
* TORNADO WILL BE...
43MILES SOUTH OF CORE BY 730 PM
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.
IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
LAT...LON 3967 8019 3954 8017 3943 7984 3952 7983
KANEWhat 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, May 24, 6:38 PM EDT, 44 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PENNSYLVANIA
638 PM EDT SUN MAY 24 1998
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0615 PM MOUNDSVILLE WV 1 INCH HAIL
05/24/98 MARSHALL
0615 PM MOUNDSVILLE WV 50 MPH TSTM GUST
05/24/98 MARSHALL TREES DOWN
0617 PM MOUNDSVILLE WV 1 INCH HAIL
05/24/98 MARSHALL
0617 PM MOUNDSVILLE WV 1 INCH HAIL
05/24/98 MARSHALL
0617 PM MOUNDSVILLE WV 40 MPH TSTM GUST
05/24/98 MARSHALL TREES DOWN
0618 PM MOUNDSVILLE WV .75 INCH HAIL
05/24/98 MARSHALL
0626 PM GLENDALE WV 60 MPH TSTM GUST
05/24/98 MARSHALL TREES DOWNThe 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, 6:27 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | PBZ | Marshall | 33 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, 7:39 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.