Alert archive / West Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 43, NWS Charleston, WV

May 20, 1998Mason County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 20, 1998, 2:25 AM EDT for Mason County, West Virginia. It was in force for 35 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
May 20, 1998, 2:25 AM EDT (06:25 UTC)
Expired
May 20, 1998, 3:00 AM EDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

County Mason County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 57 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:26 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 00:00Z, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 170 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 1998-05-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1270 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 1998-05-20The 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
1270 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-29 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1675 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
16 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
49 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

624 
WUUS1 KCRW 200628 RRA
SVRCRW
WVC053-200700-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
225 AM EDT WED MAY 20 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  300 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN WEST WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...MASON COUNTY
 
AT 225 AM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM NEAR WYOMA.  THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH
AND SHOULD PASS NEAR BEECH TREE AND LEON.
 
<< 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 20, 1:00 AM EDT, 1 hour 25 minutes before
OHZ066-067-075-076-084-200600-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
100 AM EDT WED MAY 20 1998

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS EXPIRED FOR SOUTHEAST OHIO...

THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH SOUTHEAST OHIO HAVE WEAKENED.
THEREFORE...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO EXPIRE
FOR ATHENS...MORGAN...PERRY...WASHINGTON...AND VINTON COUNTIES. NO
REPORTS OF SEVERE WEATHER HAVE BEEN RECEIVED FROM THESE COUNTIES.

.TEND/RPY
Special weather statement, May 20, 1:00 AM EDT, 1 hour 25 minutes before
OHZ066-067-075-076-084-200600-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
100 AM EDT WED MAY 20 1998

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS EXPIRED FOR SOUTHEAST OHIO...

THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH SOUTHEAST OHIO HAVE WEAKENED.
THEREFORE...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO EXPIRE
FOR ATHENS...MORGAN...PERRY...WASHINGTON...AND VINTON COUNTIES. NO
REPORTS OF SEVERE WEATHER HAVE BEEN RECEIVED FROM THESE COUNTIES.

.TEND/RPY

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.