Alert archive / Delaware / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly

June 26, 1998Sussex County, Delaware

NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued this tornado warning at Jun 26, 1998, 6:26 PM EDT for Sussex County, Delaware. It was in force for 49 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
Jun 26, 1998, 6:26 PM EDT (22:26 UTC)
Expired
Jun 26, 1998, 7:15 PM EDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly
Area
Whole counties

County Sussex County, DE

The radar

The Dover AFB radar (KDOX), 18 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:26 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 26, 6:36 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50Greenwood, DE

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jun 26, 2:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), launched 12:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 84 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, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 1998-06-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1797 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 1998-06-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 81 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1797 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-72 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
939 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
81 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
72 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

558 
WFUS1 KPHL 262227 RRA
TORPHL
DEC005-262315-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOUNT HOLLY NJ
626 PM EDT FRI JUN 26 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MOUNT HOLLY NJ HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN SUSSEX COUNTY IN DELAWARE

* UNTIL 715 PM EDT

* AT 624 PM EDT... AN OFF DUTY METEOROLOGIST SPOTTED A FUNNEL
  CLOUD WORKING ITS WAY TO THE GROUND JUST WEST OF GREENWOOD.
  IT IS MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  ELLENDALE AT 630 PM EDT

DO NOT TRY TO OUTRUN THIS TORNADO WITH YOUR CAR OR OTHER VEHICLE.
ABANDON CARS OR MOBILE HOMES FOR SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...GET IN A CULVERT OR DITCH AND COVER
YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

IN A HOME OR BUSINESS...SEEK SHELTER IN A BASEMENT...OR AN
INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

FOR THE LATEST STORM INFORMATION...PLEASE TUNE TO NOAA WEATHER
RADIO...YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TELEVISION STATIONS...OR YOUR CABLE
TELEVISION OUTLET.

WN/TG

The office that day

Everything else NWS Philadelphia/Mount Holly issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 26, 4:48 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIKent47 min
Jun 26, 5:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHISussex35 min
Jun 26, 6:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPHIKent46 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Delaware, 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.