Alert archive / New York / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 22, NWS Buffalo, NY

September 26, 1986Chautauqua County, New York

NWS Buffalo, NY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 26, 1986, 2:00 PM EDT for Chautauqua County, New York. 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
Sep 26, 1986, 2:00 PM EDT (18:00 UTC)
Expired
Sep 26, 1986, 3:00 PM EDT
In force
60 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
Sep 26, 2:30 PM 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, 6.0 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 1986-09-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 888 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 1986-09-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 116 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
888 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-94 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
679 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
116 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
149 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
5.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBUF 261752
SVRBUF
NYC013-261900-

BULLETIN  IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
200 PM EDT FRI SEP 26 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 300 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN

WESTERN NEW YORK...CHAUTAUQUA

AT 200 PM...BUFFALO WEATHER RADAR SHOWED AN INTENSE THUNDERSTORM
OVER EXTREME NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA..JUST EAST OF ERIE. THE THUNDERSTORM
WAS MOVING EAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL BE MOVING INTO SOUTHERN
CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY WITHIN THE HOUR.

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.

LEVAN

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, Sep 26, 8:37 AM EDT, 5 hours 23 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
840 AM EDT FRI SEP 26 1986

...HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY...

AT 830 AM...BUFFALO RADAR SHOWED HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRING
OVER EXTREME NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA AND THE ADJACENT WATERS OF
LAKE ERIE.  THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT
40 MPH..AND SHOULD ENTER CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR.

SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE VERY HEAVWY RAIN AND
FLOODING OF SOME LOW LYING AREAS..ROADS AND UNDERPASSES MAY OCCUR.

LEVAN
Special weather statement, Sep 26, 1:44 PM EDT, 16 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
135 PM EDT FRI SEP 26 1986

DO NOT USE AFTER 3PM

... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM FOR THE WESTERN
    SOUTHERN TIER AND CENTRAL SOUTHERN TIER COUNTIES...

AT 130PM AN INTENSE THUNDERSTORM WAS DETECTED JUST NORTH OF ERIE
PENNSYLVANIA.  THIS STORM WAS EMBEDDED IN AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS ABOUT 70 MILES WIDE THAT EXTENDED FROM NORTHWEST
PENNSYLVANIA..ACROSS LAKE ERIE..AND OVER SOUTHERN ONTARIO BETWEEN
HAMILTON AND LONDON.

THE ACTIVITY WAS MOVING EAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.

SOME OF THIS ACTIVITY MAY CONTAIN VERY HEAVY RAIN..FREQUENT LIGHTNING
AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS.  BE ON THE9 LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER..
AND LISTEN FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 26, 6:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFNiagara, Orleans65 min

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.