Alert archive / New York / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 3, NWS Buffalo, NY

May 18, 1986Erie County, Niagara County, New York

NWS Buffalo, NY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 18, 1986, 9:00 PM EDT for Erie County, Niagara County, New York. It was in force for 90 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 18, 1986, 9:00 PM EDT (01:00 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1986, 10:30 PM EDT
In force
90 min
Issued by
NWS Buffalo, NY
Area
Whole counties

Counties Erie County, NY, Niagara County, NY

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

Buffalo Intl Airport, NY (KBUF), launched 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 5 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 00:00Z on 1986-05-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 62 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 00:00Z on 1986-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 4 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
62 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-102 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1345 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
60 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 KBUF 190046
SVRBUF
NYC029-063-190230-

BULLETIN  IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
900 PM EDT SUN MAY 18 1986

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

WESTERN NEW YORK...ERIE..NIAGARA AND THE ADJACENT WATER OF LAKES
ERIE AND ONTARIO..INCLUDING UPPER NIAGARA RIVER AND BUFFALO HARBOR

AT 845 PM BUFFALO WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS
EXTENDING FROM WESTERN LAKE ONTARIO..ACROSS THE NIAGARA PENINSULA AND
EASTERN LAKE ERIE INTO CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY OF NEW YORK. THE THUNDERSTORMS
WERE MOVING EAST AT 35 MILES AN 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 I"S THE SAFEST LOCATION.

LEVAN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 8:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFChautauqua2 hr
May 18, 10:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFOrleans60 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.