Alert archive / New York / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 9, NWS Buffalo, NY

July 16, 1988Erie County, New York

NWS Buffalo, NY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 16, 1988, 4:32 PM EDT for Erie County, New York. It was in force for 88 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 16, 1988, 4:32 PM EDT (20:32 UTC)
Expired
Jul 16, 1988, 6:00 PM EDT
In force
88 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, 8.5 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.

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 162034
SVRBUF
NYC029-162200-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
432 PM EDT SAT JUL 16 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BUFFALO HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN  NEW YORK
          ...SOUTHERN ERIE
 
AT 430 PM...BUFFALO WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY
HEAVY RAIN JUST SOUTH OF PORT COLBOURNE ONTARIO. THE THUNDERSTORM
WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35 MPH. SURFACE REPORTS OF THIS THUNDERSTORM
INCLUDE FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND VERY STRONG WINDS.
 
 
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 LOCATION.
 
LEVAN

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, 1 hour 51 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

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, 5:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFChautauqua63 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.