Alert archive / Massachusetts / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

August 7, 1986Essex County, Middlesex County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this tornado warning at Aug 7, 1986, 3:31 PM EDT for Essex County, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 59 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 7, 1986, 3:31 PM EDT (19:31 UTC)
Expired
Aug 7, 1986, 4:30 PM EDT
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Essex County, MA, Middlesex County, MA

The radar

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

The nearest sounding before it

Chatham, MA (KCHH), launched 12:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 138 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, Chatham, MA at 12:00Z on 1986-08-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 8 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, Chatham, MA at 12:00Z on 1986-08-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 26 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
8 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-244 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1119 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
26 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
30 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 KBOS 071931
TORBOS
MAC017-009-072030-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOSTON MA
331 PM EDT THU AUG 7 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 430 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

NORTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS...NORTHEAST MIDDLESEX AND ESSEX

AT 320 PM EDT, SEVERAL REPORTS WERE RECEIVED OF A POSSIBLE
TORNADO IN THE BEDFORD..BURLINGTON AREA.  THE SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM AND POSSIBLE TORNADO WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTHEAST
MASSACHUSETTS TO THE NORTH OF BOSTON BETWEEN 330 AND 430 PM.

 THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY !

The office that day

Everything else NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 7, 4:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXNorfolk, Suffolk61 min
Aug 7, 4:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXBristol61 min
Aug 7, 5:42 PM EDTTornado WarningBOXBristol58 min
Aug 7, 6:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXPlymouth57 min
Aug 7, 7:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXPlymouth55 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Massachusetts, 1986Every tornado warning in 1986Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.