Alert archive / West Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 5, NWS Charleston, WV
NWS Charleston, WV issued this tornado warning at May 24, 1998, 6:18 PM EDT for Cabell County, Wayne County, West Virginia. It was in force for 42 min. 3 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
- May 24, 1998, 6:18 PM EDT (22:18 UTC)
- Expired
- May 24, 1998, 7:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 42 min
- Issued by
- NWS Charleston, WV
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Cabell County, WV, Wayne County, WV
The radar
The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 53 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:21 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 24, 6:20 PM EDT | Hail 1.25 | Huntington, WV | |
| May 24, 6:30 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Huntington, WV | Several trees fell down within the city. One large tree crushed a small unoccupied car. |
| May 24, 7:06 PM EDT | Hail 1.25 | Huntington, 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 24, 2:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 180 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
887 WFUS1 KCRW 242220 RRA TORCRW WVC011-099-242300- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV 618 PM EDT SUN MAY 24 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN WEST WEST VIRGINIA ...SOUTHERN CABELL COUNTY...NORTHERN WAYNE COUNTY AT 615 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A POSSIBLE TORNADO ALONG THE WAYNE AND CABELL COUNTY LINE...JUST SOUTH OF HUNTINGTON. THIS STORM WILL TRACK SOUTHEAST...ALONG THE CABELL AND WAYNE COUNTY LINE. << CALL TO ACTION >> IF YOU ARE IN A HOME OR APARTMENT...SEEK SHELTER IN THE INNERMOST PORTION OF THE BUILDING ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. GET TO A BASEMENT IF ONE IS AVAILABLE. AVOID WINDOWS AND PROTECT YOUR BODY FROM FLYING DEBRIS WITH CUSHIONS...BLANKETS...OR PILLOWS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Charleston, WV issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 24, 3:43 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | McDowell | 47 min |
| May 24, 7:49 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | McDowell | 41 min |
| May 24, 4:46 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | Cabell | 44 min |
| May 24, 5:08 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | Putnam | 52 min |
| May 24, 5:14 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | Lincoln | 31 min |
| May 24, 5:17 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RLX | Lincoln | 28 min |
| May 24, 5:28 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RLX | Putnam | 32 min |
| May 24, 5:37 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | Kanawha | 68 min |
| May 24, 6:10 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | Cabell | 50 min |
| May 24, 6:47 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RLX | Lincoln | 43 min |
| May 24, 7:02 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | Cabell, Wayne | 43 min |
| May 24, 7:12 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RLX | Cabell, Wayne | 48 min |
| May 24, 7:21 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | Harrison | 39 min |
| May 24, 7:26 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RLX | Cabell, Lincoln | 4 hr |
| May 24, 7:38 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RLX | Lincoln | 67 min |
| May 24, 7:42 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | Boone | 63 min |
| May 24, 7:53 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RLX | Taylor | 52 min |
| May 24, 7:55 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | Wood | 50 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.