Alert archive / New York / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 10, NWS Buffalo, NY

July 16, 1988Chautauqua County, New York

NWS Buffalo, NY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 16, 1988, 5:52 PM EDT for Chautauqua County, New York. It was in force for 63 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
Jul 16, 1988, 5:52 PM EDT (21:52 UTC)
Expired
Jul 16, 1988, 6:55 PM EDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Buffalo, NY
Area
Whole counties

County Chautauqua 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
Jul 16, 6:30 PM EDTHail 1.5Chautauqua, 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 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 91 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 12:00Z on 1988-07-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 17 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 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 12:00Z on 1988-07-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 75 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 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
17 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-395 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1194 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
75 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
155 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 162155
SVRBUF
NYC013-162255-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
552 PM EDT SAT JUL 16 1988

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BUFFALO HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...

WESTERN NEW YORK
          ...CHAUTAUQUA...

AT 552 PM...BUFFALO WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
ON THE EXTREME SOUTHWEST CORNER OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY AND NORTHWESTERN
PENNSYLVANIA.  THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST ABOUT 40 MPH.

BE ON THE ALERT FOR THUNDERSTORMS ACCOMPANIED BY FREQUENT
LIGHTNING...STRONG DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL.  LOCALLY HEAVY
RAIN MAY ALSO CAUSE DRAINAGE FLOODING.

EGR

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, Jul 16, 2:41 PM EDT, 3 hours 11 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
235 PM EDT SAT JUL 16 1988

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 296 IN EFFECT FOR WESTERN NEW
YORK AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS AND PARTS OF CENTRAL NEW YORK
AND NORTHWESTERN AND NORTHCENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA TIL 10 PM EDT...

AT 235 PM EDT BUFFALO WEATHER RADAR DETECTED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FROM
JUST SOUTH OF CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY NEW YORK INTO NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA
NEAR COORY AND UNION CITY TO SOUTH OF ERIE.
A THUNDERSTORM WAS ASLO JUST SOUTH OF LITTLE VALLEY IN CATTARAUGUS
COUNTY.
A STONG THUNDERSTORM WAS OVER JAMESTOWN NEW YORK.
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO OVER SOUTHERN ONTARIO NEAR LONDON.

SOME OF THESE STORMS CAN HAVE VERY= HEAVY RAIN...FREQUENT LIGHTNING
...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND POSSIBLY HAIL.

THE THUNDERSTORMS MAY MOVE EAST AT 35 MPH.

BE ON THE ALERT FOR SUDDEN DEVELOPMENT OF THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY.

REICH
Special weather statement, Jul 16, 5:43 PM EDT, 9 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROCHESTER NY
440 PM EDT SAT JUL 16 1988

 AT 439 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM
JUST ENTERING THE EXTREME SOUTHERN TIP OF ONTARIO COUNTY WEST OF NAPLES.
THIS THUNDERSTORM HAS A HISTORY OF STRONG WINDS AND HAIL. THE
THUNDERSTORM IS MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 30 MPH AND WILL BE ENTERING
YATES COUNTY WITHIN THE NEAT HALF HOUR.

PERSONS IN THIS AREA SHOULD BE ON T	HE ALERT FOR THUNDERSTORMS WHICH MAY
CONTAIN GUSTY WINDS HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLE HAIL

KB
Special weather statement, Jul 16, 5:46 PM EDT, 6 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROCHESTER NY
440 PM EDT SAT JUL 16 1988

 AT 439 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM
JUST ENTERING THE EXTREME SOUTHERN TIP OF ONTARIO COUNTY WEST OF NAPLES.
THIS THUNDERSTORM HAS A HISTORY OF STRONG WINDS AND HAIL. THE
THUNDERSTORM IS MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 30 MPH AND WILL BE ENTERING
YATES COUNTY WITHIN THE NEXT HALF HOUR.

PERSONS IN THIS AREA SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT FOR THUNDERSTORMS WHICH MAY
CONTAIN GUSTY WINDS HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLE HAIL.

KB
Special weather statement, Jul 16, 5:49 PM EDT, 3 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
545 PM EDT SAT JUL 16 1988

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 296 IN EFFECT TIL 10 PM EDT...

AT 530 PM...BUFFALO WEATHER RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS..SOME WITH VERY
HEAVY RAIN...ACROSS WESTERN AND CENTRAL NEW YORK...NORTHWEST
PENNSYLVANIA...AND SOUTHERN ONTARIO.

A THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN AND HAIL WAS LOCATED OVER SOUTHERN
LIVINGSTON AND ONTARIO COUNTIES OF NEW YORK.

AN AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN AND HAIL CONTINUED ACROSS
SOUTHERN ONTARIO IN AN AREA BETWEEN LONDON..TORONTO..AND THE NIAGARA
PENINSULA.

ELSEWHERE...THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN EXTENDED FROM ERIE
PENNSYLVANIA ACROSS THE NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE STATE TO BINGHAMTON
NEW YORK.
THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER AND LISTEN FOR LATER
STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

LEVAN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 16, 2:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFCattaraugus, Chautauqua60 min
Jul 16, 4:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFErie88 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.