Alert archive / New York / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 4, NWS Buffalo, NY

May 18, 1986Orleans County, New York

NWS Buffalo, NY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 18, 1986, 10:00 PM EDT for Orleans 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
May 18, 1986, 10:00 PM EDT (02:00 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1986, 11:00 PM EDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Buffalo, NY
Area
Whole counties

County Orleans 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
May 18, 10:30 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Orleans, 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 00:00Z, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 55 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 190212 COR
SVRBUF
NYC073-190300-

BULLETIN  IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
1000 PM EDT SUN MAY 18 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN

WESTERN NEW YORK...ORLEANS AND THE ADJACENT WATER OF LAKE ONTARIO

AT 1000 PM..BUFFALO WEATHER RADAR INDICATED AN INTENSE THUNDERSTORM
OVER WESTERN ORLEANS COUNTY.  THE THUNDERSTORM WAS 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 WEATHRER APPROACHES GO TO A SAFE PLACE IMMEDIATELY.  IN
HOMES A BASEMENT OR INTERIOR ROOM IS 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, 9:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFErie, Niagara90 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.