Alert archive / West Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 6, NWS Charleston, WV

January 8, 1998Jackson County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 8, 1998, 10:57 PM EST for Jackson County, West Virginia. It was in force for 48 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: Jan 8, 1998, 10:57 PM EST (03:57 UTC)
Expired: Jan 8, 1998, 11:45 PM EST
In force: 48 min
Issued by: NWS Charleston, WV
Area: Whole counties

County Jackson County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 58 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:07 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
Jan 8, 11:05 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind	Ravenswood, WV	An estimated wind gust of 80 mph blew in windows on store fronts. Poles, power lines, and trees were knocked down. A few chimneys were damaged. Siding was ripped off a few homes. A lot of debris was scattered about the town.
Jan 8, 11:09 PM EST	Hail 1.75	New Era, WV	Cars and house siding were damaged.

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

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 00:00Z, 4.0 hours before the alert went out and 195 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 672 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -16 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 18 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.

150 
WUUS1 KCRW 090400 RRA
SVRCRW
WVC035-090445-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
1057 PM EST THU JAN 8 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1145 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN WEST WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...JACKSON COUNTY
 
AT 1055 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
ALONG THE MASON...JACKSON COUNTY LINE NEAR BADEN. THIS STORM WAS
TRACKING NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR. LARGE HAIL WILL ACCOMPANY THIS
SEVERE STORM.
 
 
<< 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.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 8, 10:27 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Mason	48 min
Jan 8, 10:51 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Putnam	54 min
Jan 8, 11:22 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Wood	53 min
Jan 8, 11:56 PM EST	Tornado Warning	RLX	Wood	19 min
Jan 9, 12:06 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Pleasants	54 min
Jan 9, 12:22 AM EST	Flash Flood Warning	RLX	Wood	4 hr
Jan 9, 1:41 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Nicholas	34 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in West Virginia, 1998 Every 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.