Alert archive / Massachusetts / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 3, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

May 23, 1986Hampden County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 23, 1986, 5:00 PM EDT for Hampden County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 60 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 23, 1986, 5:00 PM EDT (21:00 UTC)
Expired
May 23, 1986, 6:00 PM EDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area
Whole counties

County Hampden County, MA

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 23, 5:20 PM EDTHail 0.75Hampden, MA

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, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 116 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 1986-05-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1986-05-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -9 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
867 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-9 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
24 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 KBDL 232100
SVRBDL
MAC013-232200-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WINDSOR LOCKS CT
500 PM EDT FRI MAY 23 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 600 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTY OF

MASSACHUSETTS...HAMPDEN

AT 530PM, A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR HAMPDEN
COUNTY IN MASSACHUSETpTE VALID UNTIL 6 PM EDT. A LARGE SLOW
MOVING THUNDERSTORM WITH THREE-QUARTER INCH HAIL HAS BEEN
REPORTED IN THIS AREA.

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 23, 3:06 PM EDT, 1 hour 54 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HARTFORD CT
 3 PM EDT FRI MAY 23 1986

 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS NORTHEASTERN CONNECTICUT...

AT 3 PM RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHEAST CONNECTICUT.
A PUBLIC REPORT OF SOME DIME SIZED HAIL WAS RECIEVED.
THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING SLOWLY TOWARD THE NORTHEAST.
BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS MAY ACCOMPANY THIS
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY.

IF THREAT ENING WEATHER IS SIGHTED BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO SAFE SHELTER.

CANNON
Special weather statement, May 23, 3:19 PM EDT, 1 hour 41 minutes before
^BOSSPSPVD

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT FOR RHODE ISLAND
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PROVIDENCE RI
300 PM EDT FRI 23 MAY 1986

...THUNDERSTORMS WERE RUMBLING OVER WESTERN RHODE ISLAND AND EASTERN
CONNECTICUTT...

AT 3 PM THIS AFTERNOON THE CHATHAM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR
SHOWED A LARGE AREA WHICH CONTAINED A FEW VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS
OVER WEST RHODE ISLAND AND EAST CONNECTICUTT.  THE HEAVIEST STORM WAS
LOCATED ABOUT 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF PROVIDENCE.  SMALL HAIL HAS BEEN
REPORTED WITH THE STORMS IN CONNECTICUTT.  STRONG GUSTY WIND AND
HEAVY DOWNPOURS ALONG WITH FREQUENT LIGHTNING MAY BE EXPECTED.

THESE STORMS WERE MOVING SLOWLY NORTH AT 10 TO 15 MPH.  AT THIS SPEED
UNDERPASSES AND LOW) SPOTS ARE PRONE TO FLOODING.

DRIVERS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR MINOR FLOODING..THE AFTERNOON COMMUTE WILL
MAKE DRIVING CONDITIONS WORSE YET.  FOR THOSE OUT IN THE OPEN..IF
THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES GET TO A PLACE OF SAFETY.

JWH
Special weather statement, May 23, 3:53 PM EDT, 1 hour 7 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HARTFORD CT
 4 PM EDT FRI MAY 23 1986

 ...SLOW MOVING HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUING OVER NORTHEASTERN
CONNECTICUT.

A 4 PM RADAR INDICATED A LARGE THUNDERTORM NEARLY STATIONARY OVER
NORTHEASTERN CONNECTICUT. SEVERAL REPORTS OF HAIL AND HEAVY
DOWNPOURS OF RAIN HAVE BEEN RECIEVED FROM THE PUBLIC AS WELL AS
THE CONNECTICUT STATE POLICE.

RESIDENTS OF NORTHEAST CONNECTICUT SHOULD CONTINUE TO BE ALERT FOR
THE POSSIBILITY OF STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.
SOME LOCAL FLOODING OF ROADWAYS AND LOW SPOTS IS ALSO POSSIBLE.

BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO SAFE SHELTER SHOULD THREATENING WEATHER BE
SIGHTED
CANNON

@
Special weather statement, May 23, 4:43 PM EDT, 17 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HARTFORD CT
 440 PM EDT FRI MAY 23 1986

 ...SLOW MOVING HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHERN CONNECTICUT
AND THE SPRINGFIELD AREA.

A 430 PM EDT SEVERAL LARGE SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED
ACROSS NORTHERN AND EASTERN CONNECTICUT AND THE SPRINGFIELD AREA
OF MASSACHUSETTS. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT AROUND 15 MPH. HAIL
WAS REPORTED IN EASTERN WINDHAM COUNTY IN CONNECTICUT AND IN THE
SPRINGFIELD AREA.

RESIDENTS SHOULD CONTINUE TO BE ALERT FOR OCCASIONAL HEAVY DOWNPOURS...
THE POSSIBILITY OF STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.
SOME LOCAL FLOODING OF ROADWAYS AND LOW SPOTS IS POSSIBLE.

FURTHER STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED [IF NEEDED.

DIORIO

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Massachusetts, 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.