Alert archive / New York / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Buffalo, NY
NWS Buffalo, NY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 16, 1988, 1:20 PM EDT for Erie County, New York. It was in force for 70 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 16, 1988, 1:20 PM EDT (17:20 UTC)
- Expired
- May 16, 1988, 2:30 PM EDT
- In force
- 70 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
Buffalo Intl Airport, NY (KBUF), launched 12:00Z, 5.3 hours before the alert went out and 20 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 33 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -83 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 794 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 36 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 47 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 19 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBUF 161722 SVRBUF NYC029-161830- BULLETIN IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY 120 PM EDT MON MAY 16 1988 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 230 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN WESTERN NEW YORK...NORTHERN ERIE INCLUDING THE CITY OF BUFFALO. AT 115 PM RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER EASTERN LAKE ERIE MOVING EAST AT 35 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. IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES GO TO A SAFE PLACE IMMEDIATELY. IN HOMES A BASEMENT OR INTERIOR ROOM IS THE SAFEST PLACE. SKARI
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, May 16, 1:13 PM EDT, 7 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROCHESTER NY 110 PM EDT MON MAY 16 1988 .....A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF WESTERN NEW YORK UNTIL 7 PM THIS MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING... A THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS LOCATED IN CENTRAL LIVINGSTON COUNTY AT 105 PM EDT. THIS THUNDERSTORM MAY CONTAIN HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS. OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED ACROSS CENTRAL WAYNE AND ONTARIO COUNTIES AND SOUTHEAST YATES COUNTY. THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING AT 30 MILES AN HOUR. PERSONS IN THE WESTERN FINGER LAKES SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNIGS. ENGLISH
The office that day
Everything else NWS Buffalo, NY issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 16, 12:45 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BUF | Cattaraugus, Chautauqua | 60 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.