Alert archive / New York / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Albany, NY

May 19, 1986Saratoga County, New York

NWS Albany, NY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 19, 1986, 2:18 PM EDT for Saratoga County, New York. It was in force for 57 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
May 19, 1986, 2:18 PM EDT (18:18 UTC)
Expired
May 19, 1986, 3:15 PM EDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Albany, NY
Area
Whole counties

County Saratoga County, NY

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 19, 2:30 PM EDTHail 1.25Saratoga, NY
May 19, 2:55 PM EDTHail 0.75Saratoga, NY

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. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Albany, NY (KALB), launched 12:00Z, 6.3 hours before the alert went out and 46 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, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 1986-05-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 44 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 1986-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 12 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
44 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-160 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1078 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
12 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
105 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 KALB 191820
SVRALB
NYC091-191915-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
218 PM EDT MON MAY 19 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 315 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTY OF

NEW YORK...SARATOGA

AT 200 PM..WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A DANGEROUS STORM JUST
NORTH OF SCHENECTADY.  THE STORM WILL DUMP VERY HEAVY RAINS AND
LARGE HAIL AS IT TARCKS ACROSS SARATOGA COUNTY TO NEAR SARATOGA
SPRINGS BY 300 PM.  ALSO..STRONG GUSTY WINDS ARE LIKELY.
.
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU/RE IN THE WARNED AREA..
ESPECIALLY BOATING ON A LAKE..MOVE TO A SAFE SHELTER FAST.
BE READY FOR DAMAGING WINDS..LARGE HAIL AND LIGHTNING.

IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES..GO TO A SAFE PLACE RIGHT AWAY.
ONCE THE STORM PASSES..CALL AND REPORT ANY SEVERE WEATHER TO YOUR
NEAREST LAW ENFORCMENT PEOPLE.  ASK THEM TO RELAY YOUR REPORT TO
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBANY.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 19, 1:06 PM EDT, 1 hour 12 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
100 PM EDT MON MAY 19 1986

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS OUT FOR MUCH OF EASTERN NEW YORK
..VERMONT AND WESTERN MASSACHSETTS FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

EARLY THIS AFTERNOON..VIGOROUS THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER THE FINGER
LAKES REGION AND MAY SWEEP INTO EASTERN COUNTIES IN ABOUT TWO OR THREE
HOURS.  THE STORMS WERE CAUSING HEAVY RAINS..AND QUITE A BIT OF
LIGHTNING.

IN EASTERN NEW YORK..A CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER ESSEX COUNTY
AT 100 PM..ABOUT 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ELIZABETHTOWN. THE STORMS WERE
MOVING TOWARD THE SOUTH END OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN..AND BOATERS SHOULD
BE READY TO GET TO SHORE IN CONDITIONS GET THRETENDING ABOUT 200 PM.

AGAIN..A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FROM 130 PM UNTIL
800 PM THIS MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING.  THAT MEANS THE HEAT..
HUMIDITY..AND OTHER WEATHER FACTORS HAVE GIVEN RISE TO A POSSIBILITY
OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.

IF YOUR WEATHER GETS STORMY..GO TO A SAFE PLACE RIGHT AWAY.  ONCE
IT LETS UP..CALL YOUR NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT PEOPLE AND GIVE THEM
ANY DETAILS ABOUT SEVERE  OR  DAMAGING WEATHER.  ASK THEM TO RELAY
THE INFORMATION TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBAaNY.
Special weather statement, May 19, 1:52 PM EDT, 26 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
150 PM EDT MON MAY 19 1986

THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAINS AND LOTS OF LIGHTNING WERE
THREATENING BOATERS IN THE HEART OF THE ADIRONDACKS EARLY THIS
AFTERNOON.

AT 145 PM..A CLUSTER OF STORMS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN
HOUR..COVERED THE REGION FROM ABOUT 10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF SARANAC
LAKE TO NEAR NEWCOMB IN ESSEX COUNTY.  WEATHER SERVICE RADAR
SHOWED VERY HEAVY RAINS IN THE STORMS..AND THE SUNY AT ALBANY
LIGHTNING SYSTEM PICKED UP QUITE A BIT OF LIGHTNING.

THE MOST THREATENING STORM WAS 10 MILES WEST OF NEWCOMB..AND
WILL TRACK ACROSS NORTHERN ESSEX COUNTY OVER THE NEXT HOUR OR
TWO..TO NEAR LAKE PLACID.

IN OTHER PARTS OF EASTERN NEW YORK..THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BROKEN
OUT IN THE CATSKILLS FROM SOUTHERN DELAWARE COUNTY INTO SULLIVAN
COUNTY NEAR LIBERTY.  THERE WAS A FAIR AMOUNT OF LIGHTNING..BUT
NO REAL SIGN OF SEVERE WEATHER.

IN THE CAPITAL DISTRICT..A STORM WITH LIGHTNING WAS JUST EAST OF
SCHENECTADY AT 145 PM.

IF YOU/RE BOATING..GET TO SHORE AT THE FIRST SIGN OF STORMY OR
THREATENING WEATHER.  TORRENTIAL RAINS AND CHOPPY WATERS COULD
EASILY SWAMP SMALLER BOATS.  AND LIGHTNING IS MORE DANGEROUS THAN
USUAL WHEN YOU/RE OUT ON THE WATER.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Albany, NY issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 19, 3:13 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningALYSaratoga, Washington62 min
May 19, 4:01 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningALYFulton, Saratoga59 min
May 19, 4:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningALYHamilton, Warren67 min
May 19, 6:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningALYAlbany, Saratoga, Schenectady3 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in New York, 1986Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1986

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.