Alert archive / West Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 6, NWS Charleston, WV
NWS Charleston, WV issued this tornado warning at May 24, 1998, 6:47 PM EDT for Lincoln County, West Virginia. It was in force for 43 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
- May 24, 1998, 6:47 PM EDT (22:47 UTC)
- Expired
- May 24, 1998, 7:30 PM EDT
- In force
- 43 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 22:46 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, 7:25 PM EDT | Hail 0.75 | Hamlin, 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, 10.8 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.
- 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.
025 WFUS1 KCRW 242248 RRA TORCRW WVC043-242330- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV 647 PM EDT SUN MAY 24 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 730 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...... IN WEST WEST VIRGINIA ...NORTHERN LINCOLN COUNTY. AT 645 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A POSSIBLE TORNADO ALONG THE LINCOLN AND CABELL COUNTY LINE NEAR WEST HAMLIN. THIS STORM WAS TRACKING EAST SOUTH EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR ALONG ROUTE 3. WEST HAMLIN AND HAMLIN ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM. << 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.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
In the hours before
Local storm report, May 24, 6:15 PM EDT, 32 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WEST VIRGINIA
615 PM EDT SUN MAY 24 1998
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0600 AM BIG ROCK VA WIND DAMAGE
05/24/98 BUCHANAN TREE BLOWN DOWN ON MOBLE
HOME.
0800 AM PAYNESVILLE WV .75 INCH HAIL
05/24/98 MCDOWELL DIME SIZE HAIL.
0400 PM WARNOCK KY 1.75 INCH HAIL
05/24/98 GREENUP GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL.
0405 PM WARNOCK KY 2 INCH HAIL
05/24/98 GREENUP 2 INCH SIZE ICE CUBES.
0405 PM KEHOE KY 1 INCH HAIL
05/24/98 GREENUP QUARTER SIZE HAIL. FUNNEL
CLOUD PASSED OVER HOUSE
AND WINDSHIELD BROKE FROM
HAIL. NUMEROUS TREES
DAMAGED OR DOWN.
0430 PM WARNOCK KY TORNADO
05/24/98 GREENUP TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ON
RIDGE LINE CONFIRMED BY
SEVERAL SPOTTERS. NUMEROUS
TREES UPROOTED AND DOWN.
NO HOMES OR BUILDINGS IN
THE VICINITY OF THE PATH.
0448 PM ASHLAND KY .75 INCH HAIL
05/24/98 BOYD DIME SIZE HAIL.
0449 PM BARBOURSVILLE WV .75 INCH HAIL
05/24/98 CABELL DIME SIZE HAIL.
0513 PM GREENUP KY .75 INCH HAIL
05/24/98 GREENUP DIME SIZE HAIL.
0520 PM HURRICANE WV .75 INCH HAIL
05/24/98 PUTNAM DIME SIZE HAIL.
0548 PM PEDRO OH 1.5 INCH HAIL
05/24/98 LAWRENCE PING PONG SIZE HAIL.Local storm report, May 24, 6:15 PM EDT, 32 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WEST VIRGINIA
615 PM EDT SUN MAY 24 1998
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0600 AM BIG ROCK VA WIND DAMAGE
05/24/98 BUCHANAN TREE BLOWN DOWN ON MOBLE
HOME.
0800 AM PAYNESVILLE WV .75 INCH HAIL
05/24/98 MCDOWELL DIME SIZE HAIL.
0400 PM WARNOCK KY 1.75 INCH HAIL
05/24/98 GREENUP GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL.
0405 PM WARNOCK KY 2 INCH HAIL
05/24/98 GREENUP 2 INCH SIZE ICE CUBES.
0405 PM KEHOE KY 1 INCH HAIL
05/24/98 GREENUP QUARTER SIZE HAIL. FUNNEL
CLOUD PASSED OVER HOUSE
AND WINDSHIELD BROKE FROM
HAIL. NUMEROUS TREES
DAMAGED OR DOWN.
0430 PM WARNOCK KY TORNADO
05/24/98 GREENUP TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ON
RIDGE LINE CONFIRMED BY
SEVERAL SPOTTERS. NUMEROUS
TREES UPROOTED AND DOWN.
NO HOMES OR BUILDINGS IN
THE VICINITY OF THE PATH.
0448 PM ASHLAND KY .75 INCH HAIL
05/24/98 BOYD DIME SIZE HAIL.
0449 PM BARBOURSVILLE WV .75 INCH HAIL
05/24/98 CABELL DIME SIZE HAIL.
0513 PM GREENUP KY .75 INCH HAIL
05/24/98 GREENUP DIME SIZE HAIL.
0520 PM HURRICANE WV .75 INCH HAIL
05/24/98 PUTNAM DIME SIZE HAIL.
0548 PM PEDRO OH 1.5 INCH HAIL
05/24/98 LAWRENCE PING PONG SIZE HAIL.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, 6:18 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RLX | Cabell, Wayne | 42 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.