Alert archive / New York / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 10, NWS Buffalo, NY

October 14, 1989Niagara County, Orleans County, New York

NWS Buffalo, NY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 14, 1989, 4:27 PM EDT for Niagara County, Orleans County, New York. It was in force for 63 min. 4 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
Oct 14, 1989, 4:27 PM EDT (20:27 UTC)
Expired
Oct 14, 1989, 5:30 PM EDT
In force
63 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
Oct 14, 4:45 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 91Niagara, NY
Oct 14, 5:00 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Niagara, NY
Oct 14, 5:00 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Orleans, NY
Oct 14, 5:00 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 78Orleans, 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, 8.5 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 1989-10-14Temperature 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 12:00Z on 1989-10-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 103 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
2345 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
103 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
252 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 142027
SVRBUF
NYC063-073-142130-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
427 PM EDT SAT OCT 14 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK
      NORTHEAST NIAGARA...ORLEANS

AT 430 PM BUFFALO RADAR DETECTED A COUPLE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH
VERY HEAVY RAIN...HAIL...AND STRONG DAMAGING WINDS.  THE STORMS
WERE LOCATED JUST OFFSHORE OF NIAGARA AND ORLEANS COUNTIES AND
WERE MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 50 TO 55 MILES AN HOUR.

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.

ALL MARINE INTERESTS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AND SMALL BOATS TAKE
SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.

 NIZIOL

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, Oct 14, 2:51 PM EDT, 1 hour 36 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
232 PM EDT SAT OCT 14 1989

DO NOT USE AFTER 4 PM

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR WESTERN AND CENTRAL NEW
YORK AND ADJACENT WATERS OF LAKES ERIE AND ONTARIO UNTIL 8 PM...

SHOWERS WERE WIDELY SCATTERED BETWEEN ANGOLA AND SYRACUSE. A THUNDERSTORM
WITH HEAVY RAIN WAS JUST EAST OF LAKE CANANDAIGUA. FURTHER NORTH HEAVY
THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED FROM CENTRAL LAKE HURON TO NEAR LAKE SIMOCE.
LIGHT SHOWERS WERE SCATTERED FROM PETERBOROUGH TO 20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
KINGSTON. THE PRECIPITATION WAS MOVING EAST AT 55 MILES AN HOUR.

REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE
FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE
AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND
LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
CHT
Special weather statement, Oct 14, 3:42 PM EDT, 45 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
328 PM EDT SAT OCT 14 1989

DO NOT USE AFTER 5 PM

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR WESTERN AND CENTRAL NEW
YORK AND ADJACENT WATERS OF LAKES ERIE AND ONTARIO UNTIL 8 PM...

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED OVER A 40 MILE WIDE AREA FROM
NORTHERN ORLEANS COUNTY TO 20 MILES SOUTH OF SYRACUSE. A VERY HEAVY
STORM WAS 10 MILES NORTH OF ALBION AND ANOTHER WAS 5 MILES EAST OF LAKE
CANANDAIGUA. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ALSO CONTINUED OVER ONTARIO
SCATTERED FROM CENTRAL LAKE HURON TO THE EASTERN END OF LAKE ONTARIO
COVERING A LARGE AREA FROM TORONTO TO PETERBOROUGH. VERY HEAVY
THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED 30 TO 45 MILES DUE WEST OF TORONTO. THE
PRECIPITATION WAS MOVING EAST AT 50 MILES AN HOUR.

REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE
FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE
AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND
LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
CHT

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 14, 4:53 PM EDTTornado WarningBUFOrleans43 min
Oct 14, 4:53 PM EDTTornado WarningBUFNiagara67 min
Oct 14, 5:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFGenesee69 min
Oct 14, 6:07 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFOrleans68 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in New York, 1989Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1989

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.