Alert archive / West Virginia / Tornado Watches in 1998

Tornado Watch 491

June 2, 199822 counties in Kentucky; 20 counties in Virginia; 30 counties in West Virginia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jun 2, 1998, 3:10 PM EDT for 22 counties in Kentucky; 20 counties in Virginia; 30 counties in West Virginia. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jun 2, 1998, 3:10 PM EDT (19:10 UTC)
Expired: Jun 2, 1998, 9:00 PM EDT
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 72 counties

Bell County, KY, Boyd County, KY, Breathitt County, KY, Clay County, KY, Floyd County, KY, Harlan County, KY, Johnson County, KY, Knott County, KY, Knox County, KY, Laurel County, KY, Lawrence County, KY, Leslie County, KY, Letcher County, KY, Magoffin County, KY, Martin County, KY, McCreary County, KY, Morgan County, KY, Owsley County, KY, Perry County, KY, Pike County, KY, Whitley County, KY, Wolfe County, KY, Alleghany County, VA, Bath County, VA, Bland County, VA, Buchanan County, VA, City of Covington, VA, City of Norton, VA, Craig County, VA, Dickenson County, VA, Giles County, VA, Highland County, VA, Lee County, VA, Pulaski County, VA, Russell County, VA, Scott County, VA, Shenandoah County, VA, Smyth County, VA, Tazewell County, VA, Washington County, VA, Wise County, VA, Wythe County, VA, Boone County, WV, Braxton County, WV, Cabell County, WV, Calhoun County, WV, Clay County, WV, Fayette County, WV, Gilmer County, WV, Greenbrier County, WV, Jackson County, WV, Kanawha County, WV, Lewis County, WV, Lincoln County, WV, Logan County, WV, Mason County, WV, McDowell County, WV, Mercer County, WV, Mingo County, WV, Monroe County, WV, Nicholas County, WV, Pendleton County, WV, Pocahontas County, WV, Putnam County, WV, Raleigh County, WV, Randolph County, WV, Roane County, WV, Summers County, WV, Upshur County, WV, Wayne County, WV, Webster County, WV, Wyoming County, WV

The radar

The Charleston,WV radar (KRLX), 89 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:12 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.

Warnings issued inside it

17 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 2, 3:15 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RLX	Putnam	30 min
Jun 2, 3:23 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Kanawha	52 min
Jun 2, 3:37 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RLX	Kanawha	38 min
Jun 2, 3:53 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RLX	Boone	52 min
Jun 2, 4:11 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Wayne	49 min
Jun 2, 4:16 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RLX	Kanawha	14 min
Jun 2, 4:19 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RLX	Fayette, Raleigh	41 min
Jun 2, 4:32 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Buchanan	28 min
Jun 2, 4:43 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	JKL	Pike	17 min
Jun 2, 4:43 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MRX	Russell	37 min
Jun 2, 4:48 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RNK	Summers	62 min
Jun 2, 4:53 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Kanawha	67 min
Jun 2, 4:57 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Buchanan	63 min
Jun 2, 5:08 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Monroe	67 min
Jun 2, 5:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Giles	49 min
Jun 2, 7:06 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RNK	Giles	49 min
Jun 2, 7:29 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Pulaski, City of Radford	31 min

The nearest sounding before it

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 7.2 hours before the alert went out and 243 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1298 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 81 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 208 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 274 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.

030 
WWUS9 KMKC 021901
SEL1  
MKC WW 021901
WVZ000-KYZ000-VAZ000-030100-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 491
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
301 PM EDT TUE JUN 2 1998

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   WEST VIRGINIA                      
   EASTERN KENTUCKY                           
   WESTERN VIRGINIA                           

EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 310 PM UNTIL 900
PM EDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 100 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 60 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF PIKEVILLE KENTUCKY TO 20
MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF ELKINS WEST VIRGINIA.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.


DISCUSSION...SUPERCELL ALONG THE WV/OH BORDER WILL TRACK SEWD INTO
WV WITH OTHER CELLS POSSIBLY DEVELOPING ALONG PRE-FRONTAL TROUGH
INTO ERN KY.


AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 28035.


...VESCIO

364,0844 385,0820 385,0781 364,0810

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 2, 3:45 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Adair, Allen, Barren, Bell, Butler, Caldwell and 26 more	5 hr
Jun 2, 5:45 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Albemarle, Alleghany, Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford and 53 more	6 hr
Jun 2, 6:45 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Arlington, Augusta, Clarke, Culpeper, Fairfax, Fauquier and 23 more	6 hr
Jun 2, 4:15 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Barbour, Brooke, Doddridge, Grant, Hampshire, Hancock and 14 more	6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in West Virginia, 1998 Tornado Watches in Kentucky, 1998 Tornado Watches in Virginia, 1998 Every tornado watch 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.