Alert archive / New Hampshire / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Gray, ME

June 16, 1986Hillsborough County, New Hampshire

NWS Gray, ME issued this tornado warning at Jun 16, 1986, 2:54 PM EDT for Hillsborough County, New Hampshire. It was in force for 66 min. 2 reports 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
Jun 16, 1986, 2:54 PM EDT (18:54 UTC)
Expired
Jun 16, 1986, 4:00 PM EDT
In force
66 min
Issued by
NWS Gray, ME
Area
Whole counties

County Hillsborough County, NH

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
Jun 16, 3:00 PM EDTTornado F1Hillsborough, NH
Jun 16, 3:20 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Hillsborough, NH

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

Gray, ME (KGYX), launched 12:00Z, 6.9 hours before the alert went out and 160 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, Gray, ME at 12:00Z on 1986-06-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Gray, ME at 12:00Z on 1986-06-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 71 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
3578 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
71 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
117 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 KCON 161856
TORCON
NHC011-162000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORD NH
254 PM EDT MON JUN 16 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 400 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

SOUTH CENTRAL NEW HAMPSHIRE...HILLSBOROUGH

AT 250 PM THE POLICE CHIEF AT MARLBOROUGH NEW HAMPSHIE SIGHTED
A TORNADO WITH EXTENSIVE DAMAGE AT A HOME. REPORT WAS CALLED INTO
THE KEENE MUTAL AID STATION. TORNADO MOVING TOWARD THE DUBLIN AREA
IN WESTERN HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY.

IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES..TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.  GO TO A
BASEMENT OR A CENTRAL INTERIOR ROOM OR HALLWAY ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES AND GO TO A REINFORCED
BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES..TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. A
BASEMENT..INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR IS THE
SAFEST PLACE IN MOST BUILDINGIS.

MRT/JJM WSO CON

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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, Jun 16, 12:56 PM EDT, 1 hour 58 minutes before
BULLETIN
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND, ME
1256 PM EDT MON JUN 16 1986

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO WESTERN MAINE...

LATEST RADAR INDICATED VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTH CENTRAL
NEW HAMPSHIRE EXTENDING TO CLOSE TO THE SOUTHWEST MAINE BORDER.  THESE
STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 30 MILES AN HOUR AND
WILL BE MOVING INTO SOUTHWESTERN MAINE WITHIN THE NEXT TWO HOURS.

PEOPLE OVER SOUTHWEST MAINE INCLUDING THE COASTAL AREAS SHOULD BE AWARE
OF RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS THIS AFTERNOON.  IF ANY
THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.  HEAVY RAIN..
STRONG GUSTY WINDS..AND HAIL MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH SOME OF THESE
THUNDERSTORMS.

LATER STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED ON THIS DEVELOPING SITUATION AS NEEDED.
..MARINE..
Special weather statement, Jun 16, 2:47 PM EDT, 7 minutes before
^PWMSPSCON

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORD NH
246 PM EDT MON JUN 16 1986

    ...VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN CHESHIRE COUNTY NEW HAMPSHIRE...

RADAR SHOWS VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN CHESHIRE COUNTY NEW HAMPSHIRE.
THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING TOWARD THE EAST NORTHEAST AT NEARLY 50 MPH.

STRONG WINDS..DANGEROUS LIGHTNING..HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLE HAIL WILL
ACCOMPANY THE STORMS AS THEY MOVE INTO NORTHERN HILLSBOROUGH AND> SOUTH-
ERN MERRIMACK COUNTIES OF NEW HAMPSHIRE WITHIN THE NEXT ONE TO TWO
HOURS.

BE ALERT FOR THREATENING WEATHER. IF BOATING HEAD FOR SHORE AS QUICKLY
AS POSSIBLE.

MRT/WSO CON

The office that day

Everything else NWS Gray, ME issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 16, 11:31 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGYXCheshire, Sullivan59 min
Jun 16, 12:54 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGYXMerrimack, Strafford66 min
Jun 16, 3:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGYXMerrimack65 min
Jun 16, 5:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGYXSullivan35 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in New Hampshire, 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.