Alert archive / New York / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Burlington, VT

August 3, 1988Clinton County, New York

NWS Burlington, VT issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 3, 1988, 4:47 PM EDT for Clinton County, New York. It was in force for 28 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
Aug 3, 1988, 4:47 PM EDT (20:47 UTC)
Expired
Aug 3, 1988, 5:15 PM EDT
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Burlington, VT
Area
Whole counties

County Clinton 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
Aug 3, 5:05 PM EDTHail 0.75Clinton, NY
Aug 3, 5:10 PM EDTHail 0.75Clinton, 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

Albany, NY (KALB), launched 12:00Z, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 229 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, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 1988-08-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1253 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, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 1988-08-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 89 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1253 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-164 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
857 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
89 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
67 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 KBTV 032049
SVRBTV
NYC019-032115-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT
447 PM EDT WED AUG 3 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BURLINGTON VT HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  515 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHEAST NEW YORK
          ...NORTHERN CLINTON
 
AT 445 PM A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS NEAR SCOTIA NEW YORK AND WAS
MOVING TO THE EAST AT 10 MPH. IT WILL MOVE TOWARDS CHAZY AND
COOPERSVILLE NEW YORK BY 515 PM.
 
 
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALwL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

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, Aug 3, 1:11 PM EDT, 3 hours 36 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT
100 PM EDT WED AUG 03 1988

A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM HAS DEVELOPED JUST NORTHWEST OF ST ALBANS.

THE THUNDERSTORM IS MOVING TO THE EAST AT 35 MPH AND WILL PASS JUST
NORTH OF THE CENTER OF ST ALBANS AND MOVE INTO THE BAKERSFIELD AREA
BY AROUND 130PM.

IF YOU/RE IN THE PATH OF THIS STRONG THUNDERSTORM YOU SHOULD GET
INSIDE. THERE/LL BE LOT/S OF LIGHTNING WITH THIS STORM AND LIGHTNING
IS A KILLER.

IT/LL RAIN VERY HARD FOR A BRIEF TIME AND LOW LYING AREAS MAY FLOOD
SO IF YOU/RE ON THE ROAD PULL OVER UNTIL THE STORM PASSES. HAIL MAY
ALSO FALL FROM THIS STORM.

END/MACHOWSKI...
GET TO SHORE IN A HURRY.

END...JVL.
Special weather statement, Aug 3, 2:36 PM EDT, 2 hours 11 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT
230 PM EDT WED AUG 03 1988

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING OVER THE NORTHERN ADIRONDACKS.

AT 230 PM THUNDERSTORMS WERE BETWEEN DANNEMORA AND PERU IN CLINTON
COUNTY NEW YORK. ANOTHER THUNDERSTORM WAS NEAR WILLSBORO IN NORTHEAST
ESSEX COUNTY NEW YORK. THESE STORMS LIKELY CONTAIN TORRENTIAL RAINS...
SMALL HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. AS THEY DISSIPATE...THEY CAN
PRODUCE A STRONG DOWNBURST OF WIND.

THE STORMS ARE MOVING EAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR...MAKING GRAND ISLE...
FRANKIN AND CHITTENDEN COUNTIES IN VERMONT LIKELY TARGETS. IF YOU LIVE
IN THE CHAMPLAIN VALLEY...BE ALERT FOR THESE STORMS. IF YOU ARE ON LAwKE
CHAMPLAIN...HEAD FOR SHORE IF A STORM APPROACHES.

END/MACHOWSKI/MAMROSH
^
Special weather statement, Aug 3, 3:51 PM EDT, 56 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BURLINGTON VT
330 PM EDT WED AUG 03 1988

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER THE ADIRONDACKS...BUT COVERAGE
HAS DIMINISHED.

AT 330 PM THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN NORTHEAST ESSEX COUNTY NEW YORK...
BETWEEN WILLSBORO...AU SABLE FORKS AND ELIZABETHTOWN. THEY LIKELY
CONTAIN TORRENTIAL RAINS... SMALL HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.
AS THEY DISSIPATE...THEY CAN PRODUCE A STRONG DOWNBURST OF W7IND.
THE STORMS ARE MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

ANOTHER THUNDERSTORM...PROBABLY SEVERE...WAS JUST NORTHEAST OF OTTAWA
ONTARIO.THIS STROM IS MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

IF YOU SEE THREATENING WEATHER...TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.

END/RDM

The office that day

Everything else NWS Burlington, VT issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 3, 4:17 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBTVClinton28 min
Aug 3, 5:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBTVClinton48 min
Aug 3, 6:22 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBTVClinton68 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in New York, 1988Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1988

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.