Alert archive / Maine / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Gray, ME

July 17, 1988York County, Maine

NWS Gray, ME issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 17, 1988, 5:58 PM EDT for York County, Maine. It was in force for 62 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 17, 1988, 5:58 PM EDT (21:58 UTC)
Expired
Jul 17, 1988, 7:00 PM EDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Gray, ME
Area
Whole counties

County York County, ME

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 17, 6:25 PM EDTHail 1York, ME
Jul 17, 6:25 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0York, ME

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

Gray, ME (KGYX), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 61 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, Gray, ME at 12:00Z on 1988-07-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Gray, ME at 12:00Z on 1988-07-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 18 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
3615 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
18 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
29 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 KPWM 172200
SVRPWM
MEC031-172300-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND ME
558 PM EDT SUN JUL 17 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PORTLAND HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING AND
SPECIAL MARINE WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  700 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN  MAINE
          ...YORK
 
AND ADJOINING COASTAL WATERS BETWEEN KITTERY AND BIDDEFORD.
 
 
AT 550 RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST WEST OF DOVER NEW
HAMPSHIRE MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH. THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL CROSS YORK
COUNTY AND THEN MOVE OFFSHORE WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 ALL 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, Jul 17, 1:25 PM EDT, 4 hours 33 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORD NH
125 PM EDT SUN JUL 17 1988

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING AND MOVING INTO SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE...

AT 115 PM RADAR INDICATED THAT STRONG THUNDERSTORM  HAS DEVELOPED OVER
SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE. THE THUNDERSTORM WAS OVER THE CONCORD AREA AND
WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

ANOTHER BAND OF HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE CURRENTLY LOCATED ALONG THE
CONNECTICUT RIVER VALLEY...STRETCHING FROM HAVERHILL TO LEBANON TO
NEAR CLAREMONT. THIS BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

BRIEF HEAVY RAINS AND GUSTY WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED FROM THESE STORMS AS
THEY PASS.

KRM
Special weather statement, Jul 17, 2:05 PM EDT, 3 hours 53 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORD NH
200 PM EDT SUN JUL 17 1988

...THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS CENTRAL NEW HAMPSHIRE...

AT 200 PM RADAR INDICATED THAT STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING ACROSS
THE CENTRAL PART OF THE STATE. THE HEAVIEST BAND STRETCHED FROM NEAR
SQUAM LAKE SOUTHWEST TO NEAR LAKE SUNAPEE.

BRIEF HEAVY RAINS CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS...AS WELL AS GUSTY
WINDS. THESE STORMS ARE MOVING VERY QUICKLY TO T HE EAST AT 40 MPH.

THIS BAND OF THUNDERSTORM SHOULD BE THROUGH THE STATE IN THE NEXT HOUR
OR SO. MORE VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED LATER THIS
AFTERNOON OR EVENING.

KRM
Special weather statement, Jul 17, 4:41 PM EDT, 1 hour 17 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORD NH
440 PM EDT SUN JUL 17 1988

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL
   NEW HAMPSHIRE...

AT 435 PM RADAR INDICATED THAT STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING ACROSS
THE SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL PART OF THE STATE. THE HEAVIEST BAND STRETCHED
FROM JUST SOUTH OF SQUAM LAKE SOUTHWEST TO NEAR HILLSBORO.

ANOTHER BAND OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED JUST WEST OF THE
CONNECTICUT RIVER VALLEY. THESE STORMS SHOULD ENTER THE CENTRAL PART OF
STATE WITHIN THE NEXT HALF HOUR.

BRIEF HEAVY RAINS AND GUSTY WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS.
THESE STORMS ARE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 30 MPH.

KRM
Special weather statement, Jul 17, 5:29 PM EDT, 29 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORD NH
525 PM EDT SUN JUL 17 1988

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL
   NEW HAMPSHIRE...

AT 520 PM RADAR INDICATED THAT STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING ACROSS
THE SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL PART OF THE STATE. THE HEAVIEST BAND STRETCHED
FROM NEAR WOLFBORO SOUTH TO BARNSTEAD THEN SOUTHWEST TO CONCORD.

ANOTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED IN SOUTHEAST SULLIVAN COUNTY.
ANOTHER BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS WERE NOTED MOVING FROM VERMONT INTO
CHESHIRE COUNTY.

BRIEF HEAVY RAINS...GUSTY WINDS AND POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED
FROM THESE THUNDERSTORMS. THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

KRM

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Maine, 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.