Alert archive / West Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 46, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

September 7, 1998Wetzel County, West Virginia

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this tornado warning at Sep 7, 1998, 5:51 PM EDT for Wetzel County, West Virginia. It was in force for 30 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 7, 1998, 5:51 PM EDT (21:51 UTC)
Expired
Sep 7, 1998, 6:21 PM EDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Wetzel County, WV

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 109 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:51 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 101 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1998-09-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1483 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1998-09-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 16 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
1483 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-94 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
932 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
16 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
29 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

873 
WFUS1 KPIT 072152 RRA
TORPIT
WVC103-072221-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
551 PM EDT MON SEP 7 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WETZEL COUNTY IN NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA.

* UNTIL 621 PM EDT.

* AT 550 PM... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO NEAR THE TOWN OF...SOUTH OF JACKSONBURG...MOVING EAST
  SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  SMITHFIELD 555 PM.
  FOLSOM 600 PM.

<<CALL TO ACTION>>GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON
THE LOWEST FLOOR

.END/

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, Sep 7, 12:53 PM EDT, 4 hours 58 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PENNSYLVANIA
1253 PM EDT MON SEP 07 1998

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

0758 AM    3 E SHARON                PA   WIND DAMAGE
09/07/98   MERCER                         TREES DOWN

0908 AM    LEEPER                    PA   WIND DAMAGE
09/07/98   CLARION                        TREE DOWN
Special weather statement, Sep 7, 12:53 PM EDT, 4 hours 58 minutes before
OHZ039>041-048>050-057>059-068-069-PAZ029-031-WVZ001>004-012-021-022-
072300-

SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
1253 PM EDT MON SEP 7 1998

...STRONG OR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON AND
EARLY EVENING ACROSS PARTS OF EXTREME SOUTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA...EAST
CENTRAL OHIO...NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA AND GARRETT COUNTY MARYLAND...

THUNDERSTORMS WITH STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HAIL AND HEAVY DOWNPOURS MAY
REDEVELOP LATER THIS AFTERNOON OR EARLY EVENING AS A COLD FRONT SWEEPS
SOUTH THROUGH THE AREA.  THE MOST LIKELY AREA FOR THUNDERSTORMS TO
REDEVELOP IS ALONG AND SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 70.

THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE STORMS SHOULD BE STRONG GUSTY THUNDERSTORM
WINDS EXCEEDING 40 MPH AND LARGE HAIL. FREQUENT LIGHTNING WILL
ACCOMPANY THESE STORMS.

STAY TUNED TO LOCAL MEDIA OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST
FORECASTS AND UPDATES.  UPDATES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB SITE AT
WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/ER/PIT.

SKYWARN ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE. PLEASE REPORT ANY HAIL OR WIND GUSTS OF
40 MPH OR GREATER OR ANY STORM-RELATED DAMAGE.

KB8QEV/KA3RYL/WX3PIT
Special weather statement, Sep 7, 12:53 PM EDT, 4 hours 58 minutes before
OHZ039>041-048>050-057>059-068-069-PAZ029-031-WVZ001>004-012-021-022-
072300-

SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
1253 PM EDT MON SEP 7 1998

...STRONG OR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON AND
EARLY EVENING ACROSS PARTS OF EXTREME SOUTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA...EAST
CENTRAL OHIO...NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA AND GARRETT COUNTY MARYLAND...

THUNDERSTORMS WITH STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HAIL AND HEAVY DOWNPOURS MAY
REDEVELOP LATER THIS AFTERNOON OR EARLY EVENING AS A COLD FRONT SWEEPS
SOUTH THROUGH THE AREA.  THE MOST LIKELY AREA FOR THUNDERSTORMS TO
REDEVELOP IS ALONG AND SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 70.

THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE STORMS SHOULD BE STRONG GUSTY THUNDERSTORM
WINDS EXCEEDING 40 MPH AND LARGE HAIL. FREQUENT LIGHTNING WILL
ACCOMPANY THESE STORMS.

STAY TUNED TO LOCAL MEDIA OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST
FORECASTS AND UPDATES.  UPDATES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB SITE AT
WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/ER/PIT.

SKYWARN ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE. PLEASE REPORT ANY HAIL OR WIND GUSTS OF
40 MPH OR GREATER OR ANY STORM-RELATED DAMAGE.

KB8QEV/KA3RYL/WX3PIT
Special weather statement, Sep 7, 4:58 PM EDT, 53 minutes before
OHZ068-072142-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
458 PM EDT MON SEP 7 1998

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR NOBLE COUNTY OHIO HAS BEEN
CANCELLED. THE STORM WEAKENED AND MOVED INTO MONROE COUNTY.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 7, 8:20 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZBrooke, Hancock60 min
Sep 7, 8:20 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZMarshall, Ohio60 min
Sep 7, 5:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZWetzel45 min
Sep 7, 6:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZTucker52 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.