Alert archive / New York / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 7, NWS Buffalo, NY

July 14, 1988Niagara County, Orleans County, New York

NWS Buffalo, NY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 14, 1988, 2:16 PM EDT for Niagara County, Orleans County, New York. It was in force for 59 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
Jul 14, 1988, 2:16 PM EDT (18:16 UTC)
Expired
Jul 14, 1988, 3:15 PM EDT
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Buffalo, NY
Area
Whole counties

Counties Niagara County, NY, Orleans 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 14, 3:00 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Niagara, NY
Jul 14, 3:00 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Orleans, 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, 6.3 hours before the alert went out and 38 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 1988-07-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1275 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 12:00Z on 1988-07-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 204 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
1275 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-14 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
758 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
204 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
253 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.2
Supercell composite
9.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KBUF 141818
SVRBUF
NYC063-073-141915-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
216 PM EDT THU JUL 14 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BUFFALO HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  315 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN  NEW YORK
          ...NIAGARA...ORLEANS
 
AT 215 PM...BUFFALO WEATHER RADAR SHOWED AND AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS
OVER WESTERN LAKE ONTARIO. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST
SOUTHEAST 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.

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 14, 12:47 PM EDT, 1 hour 29 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROCHESTER NY
1247 PM EDT THU JUL 14 1988

...THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO LIVINGSTON AND MONROE COUNTIES...

AT 1245 PM EDT RADAR INDICATES A THUNDERSTORM &ALONG THE MONROE LIVINGSTON
COUNTY LINE. THIS THUNDERSTORM IS MOVING EASTWARD AT 30 TO 35 MPH.

$$REC
Special weather statement, Jul 14, 1:12 PM EDT, 1 hour 4 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROCHESTER NY
112 PM EDT THU JUL 14 1988

...RAINSHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS BECOMING MORE NUMEROUS...

AT 110 PM EDT RADAR SHOWS RAINSHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVR SOUTHERN
LIVINGSTON NORTHERN LINGINSTON AND MONROE COUNTIES. OTHERS ARE
DEVELOPING IN GENESSEE AND ORLEANS COUNTIES. THESE SHOWERS AND THUNDER
STORMS ARE MOVING RAPIDLY EASTWARD AT 45 TO 50 MPH.
AS THE AFTERNOON WEARS ON SHOWERS AND THUNDE<RSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED TO
DEVELOPE THROUGHTOUT THE WESTERN FINGER LAKES REGION.

$$REC
Special weather statement, Jul 14, 1:40 PM EDT, 36 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
140 PM EDT THUR JUL 14 1988

...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY OVER WESTERN NEW YORK...

AT 130 PM...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER NIAGARA..ERIE...ORLEANS
...GENESEE...CATTARAUGUS AND ALLEGANY COUNTIES. THUNDERSTORMS WERE
JUST NORTH OF BUFFALO...NORTH OF PALMYRA...AND OVER SYRACUSE NEW YORK.

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE BETWEEN THE GENESEE RIVER AND THE CENTRAL
FINGER LAKES...AND FROM NORTHERN CAYUGA LAKE TO ONEIDA LAKE.

THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER ONTARIO  BETWEEN LONDON AND TORONTO.
SHOWERS ALSO EXTENDED FROM TORONTO TO PORT COBOURG.

THESE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVIKNG EAST SOUTHEAST AT 35 MILES
AM HOUR.

PRL

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.