Alert archive / New York / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Buffalo, NY

July 30, 1987Erie County, New York

NWS Buffalo, NY issued this tornado warning at Jul 30, 1987, 4:35 PM EDT for Erie County, New York. It was in force for 25 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 30, 1987, 4:35 PM EDT (20:35 UTC)
Expired
Jul 30, 1987, 5:00 PM EDT
In force
25 min
Issued by
NWS Buffalo, NY
Area
Whole counties

County Erie 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

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 283 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1987-07-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 42 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1987-07-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 57 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
42 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-103 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1453 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
57 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
126 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 302036
TORBUF
NYC029-302100-

BULLETIN  IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
435 PM EDT THU JUL 30 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE
UNTIL 500 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN

WESTERN NEW YORK...ERIE

AT 430 PM A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS SIGHTED SOUTH OF THE BUFFALO AIRPORT MOVING
SOUTHEAST.

BE ON THE ALERT FOR TORNADOES OR 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 TO THE BASEMENT OR AN INTERIOR
ROOM OR HALLWAY AND GET UNDER A STURDY PIECE OF FURNITURE.  MOBILE HOMES
ANYD AUTOS OFFER LITTLE SHELTER FROM TORNADOES.

BLACKBURN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 30, 2:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFErie, Niagara55 min
Jul 30, 2:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFGenesee60 min
Jul 30, 6:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFAllegany85 min
Jul 30, 7:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFAllegany60 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in New York, 1987Every tornado warning in 1987Tornadoes in 1987

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.