Alert archive / West Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 12, NWS Charleston, WV

June 2, 1998Putnam County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this tornado warning at Jun 2, 1998, 3:15 PM EDT for Putnam County, West Virginia. It was in force for 30 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
Jun 2, 1998, 3:15 PM EDT (19:15 UTC)
Expired
Jun 2, 1998, 3:45 PM EDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

County Putnam County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 27 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:17 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, 3:16 PM EDTTornado F1Pliny, WVThe tornado crossed the Mason/Putnam County line about 2 miles west of Pliny and uprooted large trees mainly south of County Route 9.
Jun 2, 3:25 PM EDTThunderstorm WindBuffalo, 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jun 2, 3:10 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 12:00Z, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 193 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°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 021915 RRA
TORCRW
WVC079-021945-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
315 PM EDT TUE JUN 2 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  345 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN WEST CENTRAL WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...PUTNAM COUNTY
 
AT 313 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
TORNADO APPROACHING PUTNAM CONTY. THE TORNADO IS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 40
MPH. THE STORM WILL LIKELY AFFECT PLINY AND BUFFALO AROUND 320 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/BELK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 2, 2:57 PM EDTTornado WarningRLXMason33 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.