Alert archive / West Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Charleston, WV

June 2, 1998Mason County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this tornado warning at Jun 2, 1998, 2:57 PM EDT for Mason County, West Virginia. It was in force for 33 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
Jun 2, 1998, 2:57 PM EDT (18:57 UTC)
Expired
Jun 2, 1998, 3:30 PM EDT
In force
33 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 18:57 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
Jun 2, 3:15 PM EDTTornado F1Apple Grove, WVLarge trees were uprooted along Mount Union Ridge, mainly south of County Route 37. One mobile home was destroyed. One man was injured when a large tree hit his van, trapping him inside. The tornado crossed into Putnam County.

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 12:00Z, 7.0 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 12:00Z on 1998-06-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 1998-06-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 214 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1445 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
214 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
241 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 021857 RRA
TORCRW
WVC053-021930-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
257 PM EDT TUE JUN 2 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  330 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN WEST WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...SOUTHERN MASON COUNTY
 
AT 257 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
TORNADO IN GALLIA COUNTY OHIO. THIS STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 40
MPH...AND WILL ENTER MASON COUNTY NEAR OR JUST SOUTH OF GALLIPOLIS FERRY
AROUND 300 PM EDT.
 
<< CALL TO ACTION >> IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A
NEARBY REINFORCED BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A
CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD.
 
.END/

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 2, 3:15 PM EDTTornado WarningRLXPutnam30 min
Jun 2, 3:23 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXKanawha52 min
Jun 2, 3:37 PM EDTTornado WarningRLXKanawha38 min
Jun 2, 3:53 PM EDTTornado WarningRLXBoone52 min
Jun 2, 4:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXWayne49 min
Jun 2, 4:16 PM EDTTornado WarningRLXKanawha14 min
Jun 2, 4:19 PM EDTTornado WarningRLXFayette, Raleigh41 min
Jun 2, 4:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXKanawha67 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in West Virginia, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes 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.