Alert archive / Massachusetts / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

August 8, 1986Middlesex County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this tornado warning at Aug 8, 1986, 4:24 PM EDT for Middlesex County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 66 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 8, 1986, 4:24 PM EDT (20:24 UTC)
Expired
Aug 8, 1986, 5:30 PM EDT
In force
66 min
Issued by
NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area
Whole counties

County 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, 8.4 hours before the alert went out and 148 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 1986-08-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1301 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 1986-08-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 103 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
1301 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-13 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
610 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
103 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
147 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KBOS 082024
TORBOS
MAC017-082130-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOSTON MA
424 PM EDT FRI AUG 8 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

EAST CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS...NORTHERN MIDDLESEX

AT 415PM, NATIAONAL WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO
OVER LUNENBURG WHICH IS JUST EAST OF FITCHBURG IN NORTH
CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS.  THE TORNADO WILL MOVE EASDT ACROSS
NORTHERN MIDDLESEX COUNTY BETWEEN 430 AND 530 PM..THIS
INCLUDES THE CITIES OF AYER..GROTON..LOWELL AND TO NEAR THE
BURLINGTON AREA.

 THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY !

 THIS STORM IS ACCOMPANIED BY INTENSE LIGHTNING AND STRONG GUSTY
 WINDS.

   PERSONS NEAR THESE CITIES SHOULD TAKE COVER IMMEDIATLEY IF
 THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.

 DILLEY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 8, 11:00 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXWorcester60 min
Aug 8, 11:18 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXNorfolk72 min
Aug 8, 11:37 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXMiddlesex68 min
Aug 8, 3:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXBristol, Plymouth65 min
Aug 8, 3:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXBarnstable65 min
Aug 8, 4:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXWorcester60 min
Aug 8, 5:02 PM EDTTornado WarningBOXEssex58 min
Aug 8, 5:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXWorcester60 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.