Alert archive / West Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 45, NWS Charleston, WV
NWS Charleston, WV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 20, 1998, 9:04 PM EDT for McDowell County, Wyoming County, West Virginia. It was in force for 56 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 20, 1998, 9:04 PM EDT (01:04 UTC)
- Expired
- May 20, 1998, 10:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 56 min
- Issued by
- NWS Charleston, WV
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties McDowell County, WV, Wyoming County, WV
The radar
The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 91 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:03 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 20, 9:35 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Raysal, WV | Several trees were blown down. |
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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 7:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 4 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 00:00Z, 1.1 hours before the alert went out and 189 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
- 342 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -37 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1777 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 20 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 2 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -3 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
744 WUUS1 KCRW 210105 RRA SVRCRW WVC047-109-210200- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV 904 PM EDT WED MAY 20 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...S... IN SOUTH CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA ...MCDOWELL COUNTY...SOUTHERN WYOMING COUNTY AT 905 PM RADAR CONTINUES TO INDICATED A CLUSTER OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO THE WARNED AREA. STRONG WINDS WILL BE THE MAIN THREAT WITH SPEEDS OF 60 MPH POSSIBLE WITH THE PASSAGE OF THESE STORMS. << 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 DONT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD. JAP
The office that day
Everything else NWS Charleston, WV issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 8:37 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | Mingo | 68 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.