Alert archive / West Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Charleston, WV

May 24, 1998Lincoln County, West Virginia

NWS Charleston, WV issued this tornado warning at May 24, 1998, 5:17 PM EDT for Lincoln County, West Virginia. It was in force for 28 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 24, 1998, 5:17 PM EDT (21:17 UTC)
Expired
May 24, 1998, 5:45 PM EDT
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, WV
Area
Whole counties

County Lincoln County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 34 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:21 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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 24, 2:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 205 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 1998-05-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 8 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1998-05-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 87 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
8 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-197 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
638 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
87 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
117 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

486 
WFUS1 KCRW 242118 RRA
TORCRW
WVC043-242145-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
517 PM EDT SUN MAY 24 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN WEST WEST VIRGINIA
 
   ...NORTHERN LINCOLN COUNTY
 
AT 515 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR DETECTED A POSSIBLE TORNADO
ALONG THE CABELL AND LINCOLN COUNTY LINE. THIS STORM WAS TRACKING EAST
SOUTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR. PORTERSVILLE AND BOWLES ARE IN THE TRACK
OF THIS STORM.
 
<< CALL TO ACTION >> THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. ACT QUICKLY.
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW
GROUND IF AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON
THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 24, 3:43 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXMcDowell47 min
May 24, 7:49 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXMcDowell41 min
May 24, 4:46 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXCabell44 min
May 24, 5:08 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXPutnam52 min
May 24, 5:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXLincoln31 min
May 24, 5:28 PM EDTTornado WarningRLXPutnam32 min
May 24, 5:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXKanawha68 min
May 24, 6:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXCabell50 min
May 24, 6:18 PM EDTTornado WarningRLXCabell, Wayne42 min
May 24, 6:47 PM EDTTornado WarningRLXLincoln43 min
May 24, 7:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXCabell, Wayne43 min
May 24, 7:12 PM EDTTornado WarningRLXCabell, Wayne48 min
May 24, 7:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXHarrison39 min
May 24, 7:26 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRLXCabell, Lincoln4 hr
May 24, 7:38 PM EDTTornado WarningRLXLincoln67 min
May 24, 7:42 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXBoone63 min
May 24, 7:53 PM EDTTornado WarningRLXTaylor52 min
May 24, 7:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXWood50 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.