Alert archive / New York / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 8, NWS Buffalo, NY

August 2, 1989Niagara County, New York

NWS Buffalo, NY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 2, 1989, 11:55 AM EDT for Niagara County, New York. It was in force for 65 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 2, 1989, 11:55 AM EDT (15:55 UTC)
Expired
Aug 2, 1989, 1:00 PM EDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Buffalo, NY
Area
Whole counties

County Niagara 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, 3.9 hours before the alert went out and 27 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 1989-08-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 104 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 1989-08-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 130 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
104 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-81 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
934 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
130 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
159 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 021555
SVRBUF
NYC063-021700-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
1155 AM EDT WED AUG 2 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 100 PM EDT FOR 
PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK
      NIAGARA

...THIS WARNING ALSO INCLUDES THE ADJACENT LAKE WATERS FOR THE   
COUNTY JUST MENTIONED

AT 1150 AM BUFFALO RADAR DETECTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER LAKE
ONTARIO ABOUT 15 MILES NORTH OF WILSON.  THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY
OF PRODUCING STRONG DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL.

THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 TO 40 MPH AND WILL CROSS
NIAGARA COUNTY DURING THE NEXT 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 TVO 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, Aug 2, 10:49 AM EDT, 1 hour 6 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROCHESTER NY
1050 AM EDT WED AUG 2 1989

...RAIN MOVING INTO THE GREATER ROCHESER AREA...

A LARGE AREA OF RAIN COVERING WESTERN LAKE ONTARIO AND EXTENDING NORTH
WEST INTO ONTARIO CANADA HAS BEEN MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.
RAIN WILL OVERSPREAD THE GREATER ROCHESTER AREA BY NOON.

ENGLISH
Special weather statement, Aug 2, 11:48 AM EDT, 7 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
1145 AM EDT WED AUG 2 1989

... THUNDERSTORMS AFFECTING WESTERN LAKE ONTARIO...

AT 1135AM... WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM ALONG THE
NORTH SHORE OF LAKE ONTARIO NEAR TORONTO. AMATEUR RADIO SPOTTERS
REPORTED ONE HALF INCH DIAMETER HAIL WITH THIS STORM NEAR AURORA ONTARIO
AT ABOUT 11 AM. THERE HAVE ALSO BEEN REPORTS OF WIND DAMAGE ASSOCIATED
WITH THIS STORM

THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR... AND MAY
CONTAIN STRONG GUSTY WINDS... VERY HEAVY RAINS... FREQUENT LIGHTNING...
AND POSSIBLY HAIL. THE STORM MAY REACH PARTS OF THE NIAGARA AND ORLEANS
COUNTY SHORELINES BETWEEN NOON AND 1230 PM.

ELSEWHERE... SHOWERS AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER PORTIONS OF
NIAGARA... ORLEANS... GENESEE... WESTERN MONROE... AND NORTHERN ERIE
COUNTIES... MUCH OF LAKE ONTARIO... PORTIONS OF THE NIAGARA PENINSULA...
AND SOUTHERN ONTAORIO BETWEEN LAKE SIMCOE... TORONTO... AND KINGSTON.

THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN
HOUR.

SHOULD THREATENING WEATHER APPROACH... GO TO A SAFE PLACE IMMEDIATELY.

WEBBER

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.