Alert archive / West Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 34, NWS Charleston, WV
NWS Charleston, WV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 3, 1998, 7:05 PM EDT for Wood County, West Virginia. It was in force for 25 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
- May 3, 1998, 7:05 PM EDT (23:05 UTC)
- Expired
- May 3, 1998, 7:30 PM EDT
- In force
- 25 min
- Issued by
- NWS Charleston, WV
- Area
- Whole counties
County Wood County, WV
The radar
The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 102 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:07 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 3, 7:20 PM EDT | Hail 0.75 | Mineral Wells, WV |
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, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 180 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
- 4 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 505 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 21 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 43 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 70 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
916 WUUS1 KCRW 032304 RRA SVRCRW WVC107-032330- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV 705 PM EDT SUN MAY 3 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 730 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...... IN NORTHWEST WEST VIRGINIA ...WOOD COUNTY AT 7 PM WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR WADEVILLE IN SOUTHERN WOOD COUNTY MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 TO 25 MPH. THIS STORM IS EXPECTED TO PASS NEAR MINERAL WELLS AND PARKERSBURG. DIME TO NICKEL SIZE HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED AS THE STORM MOVES THROUGH. << CALL TO ACTION >> IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A STRONG BUILDING. DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN ...AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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, May 3, 6:42 PM EDT, 23 minutes before
WVZ008-009-032315- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV 642 PM EDT SUN MAY 3 1998 AT 6:40 PM...A THUNDERSTORM WAS ALONG THE WOOD AND JACKSON COUNTY LINE...NEAR BELLEVILLE. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. SMALL HAIL IS LIKELY WITH THIS STORM...AS IT AFFECTS WOOD COUNTY BETWEEN 6:45 AND 7:30 PM. .END / NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
Special weather statement, May 3, 6:42 PM EDT, 23 minutes before
WVZ008-009-032315- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV 642 PM EDT SUN MAY 3 1998 AT 6:40 PM...A THUNDERSTORM WAS ALONG THE WOOD AND JACKSON COUNTY LINE...NEAR BELLEVILLE. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. SMALL HAIL IS LIKELY WITH THIS STORM...AS IT AFFECTS WOOD COUNTY BETWEEN 6:45 AND 7:30 PM. .END / NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
The office that day
Everything else NWS Charleston, WV issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 4:46 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | Mingo | 29 min |
| May 3, 4:59 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | Logan | 31 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in West Virginia, 1998Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.