Alert archive / New York / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 19, NWS Buffalo, NY

July 20, 1986Chautauqua County, New York

NWS Buffalo, NY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 20, 1986, 9:25 AM EDT for Chautauqua County, New York. It was in force for 65 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
Jul 20, 1986, 9:25 AM EDT (13:25 UTC)
Expired
Jul 20, 1986, 10:30 AM EDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Buffalo, NY
Area
Whole counties

County Chautauqua 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
Jul 20, 10:00 AM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Chautauqua, 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

Buffalo Intl Airport, NY (KBUF), launched 12:00Z, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 91 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 12:00Z on 1986-07-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2381 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 12:00Z on 1986-07-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 91 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
2381 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
552 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
91 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
174 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
5.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBUF 201326
SVRBUF
NYC013-201430-

BULLETIN  IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
925 AM EDT SUN JUL 20 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 AM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN

WESTERN NEW YORK...CHAUTAUQUA

AT 920 AM..WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER THE
SOUTHWEST CORNER OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT
25 MPH.

BE ON THE ALERT FOR THUNDERSTORMS ACCOMPANIED BY FREQUENT LIGHTNING..
STRONG DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL.  LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN MAY ALSO CAUSE
DRAINAGE FLOODING.

IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES GO TO A SAFE PLACE IMMEDIATELY.  IN
HOMES A BASEMENT OR INTERIOR ROOM IS THE SAFEST LOCATION.

NIZIOL

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, Jul 20, 8:43 AM EDT, 42 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROCHESTER NY
840 AM EDT SUN JUL 20 1986

...HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO THE ROCHESTER AREA...

   AT 835 AM EDT THIS SUNDAY MORNING WEATER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED
HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS JUST WEST OF ROCHESTER IN MONROE COUNTY MOVING
EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

HEAVY RAINS WERE EXPERIENCED WITH THESE STORMS IN THE BATAVIA AREA
AND CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE ROCHESTER AREA DURING THE HOUR.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO..OR LOCAL RADIO STATIONS FOR FURTHER
STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

PH

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.