Alert archive / West Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 39, NWS Charleston, WV

May 16, 1998Upshur County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 16, 1998, 5:48 PM EDT for Upshur County, West Virginia. It was in force for 27 min. 2 reports 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 16, 1998, 5:48 PM EDT (21:48 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 1998, 6:15 PM EDT
In force
27 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

County Upshur County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 145 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 16, 6:00 PM EDTHail 0.75Adrian, WV
May 16, 6:25 PM EDTHail 0.75Alton, 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, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 169 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 1998-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 10 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 1998-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 23 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
10 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-327 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1566 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
23 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
59 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.

000 
TTAA00 KCRW 162148 RRA
SVRCRW
WVC097-162215-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
548 PM EDT SAT MAY 16 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...UPSHUR COUNTY
 
AT 545 PM EDT DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
NEAR ADRIAN IN WESTERN UPSHUR COUNTY. THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE EAST
AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.
 
THE GREATEST THREAT WITH THIS STORM IS LARGE HAIL.
 
<< CALL TO ACTION >> SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND
IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND
VERY HEAVY RAIN.FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON
THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS
QUICKLY SO DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Charleston, WV issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 6:17 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXUpshur28 min
May 16, 6:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXRandolph41 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.