Alert archive / Washington / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 3, NWS Portland, OR
NWS Portland, OR issued this tornado warning at Oct 3, 1998, 5:01 PM PDT for Clark County, Washington. It was in force for 59 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
- Oct 3, 1998, 5:01 PM PDT (00:01 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 3, 1998, 6:00 PM PDT
- In force
- 59 min
- Issued by
- NWS Portland, OR
- Area
- Whole counties
County Clark County, WA
The radar
The Portland,OR radar (KRTX), 38 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:00 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 3, 6:00 PM PDT | Hail 0.75 | Minnehaha, WA |
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
Salem/Mcnary, OR (KSLE), launched 00:00Z, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 104 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
- 254 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 940 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 58 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 60 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 105 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
986 WFUS1 KPDX 040003 RRA TORPDX WAC011-040100- BULLETIN-IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR 501 PM PDT SAT OCT 3 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PORTLAND HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... NORTHERN CLARK COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN WASHINGTON * UNTIL 600 PM PDT * AT 455 PM PDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN NORTHERN CLARK COUNTY JUST NORTH OF BATTLE GROUND...MOVING EAST AT ABOUT 15 MPH. * THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR... EASTERN CLARK COUNTY BORDER BETWEEN 530 PM AND 545 PM PDT THIS STORM MAY ALSO PRODUCE LARGE HAIL...WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH... AND HEAVY RAIN. IF YOU ARE IN A CAR...GO IN A NEARBY STURDY BUILDING AS A LAST RESORT LIE FLAT IN A DITCH AND COVER YOUR HEAD. TOLLESON &
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
Special weather statement, Oct 3, 3:00 PM PDT, 2 hours 1 minute before
ORZALL-040600- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR 300 PM PDT SAT OCT 3 1998 ...ACCUMULATING SNOW LIKELY HIGHER ELEVATIONS NORTH OREGON CASCADES EARLY TONIGHT... ...POSSIBLE SNOW ACCUMULATIONS TONIGHT HIGHER MOUNTAINS NORTHEAST OREGON... A COLD PACIFIC TROUGH WILL MOVE ACROSS OREGON TONIGHT. SHOWERS OVER NORTHWEST OREGON WILL TAPER OFF LATER TONIGHT. SHOWERS IN THE NORTH CASCADES MAY DROP AN ADDITIONAL 2 INCHES OF SNOW ABOVE 5000 FEET WITH A DUSTING AS LOW AS 4000 FEET BY MORNING. IN NORTHEAST OREGON...SHOWERS WILL INCREASE EARLY TONIGHT ESPECIALLY MOUNTAINS. SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE INTO SUNDAY MORNING WITH THE SNOW LEVEL LOWERING TO 4500 FEET. SOME LIGHT ACCUMULATION IS POSSIBLE ABOVE 4500 FEET TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING. STARMER
Special weather statement, Oct 3, 3:00 PM PDT, 2 hours 1 minute before
ORZALL-040600- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR 300 PM PDT SAT OCT 3 1998 ...ACCUMULATING SNOW LIKELY HIGHER ELEVATIONS NORTH OREGON CASCADES EARLY TONIGHT... ...POSSIBLE SNOW ACCUMULATIONS TONIGHT HIGHER MOUNTAINS NORTHEAST OREGON... A COLD PACIFIC TROUGH WILL MOVE ACROSS OREGON TONIGHT. SHOWERS OVER NORTHWEST OREGON WILL TAPER OFF LATER TONIGHT. SHOWERS IN THE NORTH CASCADES MAY DROP AN ADDITIONAL 2 INCHES ABOVE 5000 FEET WITH A DUSTING AS LOW AS 4000 FEET BY MORNING. IN NORTHEAST OREGON...SHOWERS WILL INCREASE EARLY TONIGHT ESPECIALLY MOUNTAINS. SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE INTO SUNDAY MORNING WITH THE SNOW LEVEL LOWERING TO 4500 FEET. SOME LIGHT ACCUMULATIONf IS POSSIBLE ABOVE 4500 FEET TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING. STARMER
Special weather statement, Oct 3, 3:00 PM PDT, 2 hours 1 minute before
ORZALL-040600- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR 300 PM PDT SAT OCT 3 1998 ...ACCUMULATING SNOW LIKELY HIGHER ELEVATIONS NORTH OREGON CASCADES EARLY TONIGHT... ...POSSIBLE SNOW ACCUMULATIONS TONIGHT HIGHER MOUNTAINS NORTHEAST OREGON... A COLD PACIFIC TROUGH WILL MOVE ACROSS OREGON TONIGHT. SHOWERS OVER NORTHWEST OREGON WILL TAPER OFF LATER TONIGHT. SHOWERS IN THE NORTH CASCADES MAY DROP AN ADDITIONAL 2 INCHES ABOVE 5000 FEET WITH A DUSTING AS LOW AS 4000 FEET BY MORNING. IN NORTHEAST OREGON...SHOWERS WILL INCREASE EARLY TONIGHT ESPECIALLY MOUNTAINS. SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE INTO SUNDAY MORNING WITH THE SNOW LEVEL LOWERING TO 4500 FEET. SOME LIGHT ACCUMULATIONf IS POSSIBLE ABOVE 4500 FEET TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING. STARMER
Special weather statement, Oct 3, 3:00 PM PDT, 2 hours 1 minute before
ORZALL-040600- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR 300 PM PDT SAT OCT 3 1998 ...ACCUMULATING SNOW LIKELY HIGHER ELEVATIONS NORTH OREGON CASCADES EARLY TONIGHT... ...POSSIBLE SNOW ACCUMULATIONS TONIGHT HIGHER MOUNTAINS NORTHEAST OREGON... A COLD PACIFIC TROUGH WILL MOVE ACROSS OREGON TONIGHT. SHOWERS OVER NORTHWEST OREGON WILL TAPER OFF LATER TONIGHT. SHOWERS IN THE NORTH CASCADES MAY DROP AN ADDITIONAL 2 INCHES OF SNOW ABOVE 5000 FEET WITH A DUSTING AS LOW AS 4000 FEET BY MORNING. IN NORTHEAST OREGON...SHOWERS WILL INCREASE EARLY TONIGHT ESPECIALLY MOUNTAINS. SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE INTO SUNDAY MORNING WITH THE SNOW LEVEL LOWERING TO 4500 FEET. SOME LIGHT ACCUMULATION IS POSSIBLE ABOVE 4500 FEET TONIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING. STARMER
Local storm report, Oct 3, 4:45 PM PDT, 16 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OREGON
445 PM PDT SAT OCT 03 1998
TIME(PDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0439 PM SILVERTON OR
10/03/98 MARION AT 4PM MARION 8 REPORTED
ROTATING FUNNEL NOW
DISSIPATED. THUNDER IN
PROGRESS.Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Washington, 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.