Alert archive / Massachusetts / Flash Flood Warnings in 1991

Flash Flood Warning 2, NWS Albany, NY

June 16, 1991Berkshire County, Massachusetts

NWS Albany, NY issued this flash flood warning at Jun 16, 1991, 6:14 PM EDT for Berkshire County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 16, 1991, 6:14 PM EDT (22:14 UTC)
Expired
Jun 16, 1991, 8:15 PM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Albany, NY
Area
Whole counties

County Berkshire County, MA

The nearest sounding before it

Albany, NY (KALB), launched 12:00Z, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 62 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, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 1991-06-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 252 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, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 1991-06-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 41 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
252 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-152 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
956 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
41 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
65 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 KALB 162218
FFWALB
MAC003-170015-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
614 PM EDT SUN JUN 16 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBANY NY  HAS ISSUED A
FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  815 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS......
 
IN WEST MASSACHUSETTS
 
   ...SOUTHERN BERKSHIRE COUNTY
 
   ...FOR THE TOWNSHIPS OF SHEFFIELD...NEW MARLBOROUGH AND SANDISFIELD
 
REPEATED HEAVY RAINFALLS OVER THE SAME AREA IN SOUTHERN BERKSHIRE
COUNTY TODAY HAVE BROUGHT ABOUT THIS WARNING.
 
WITH ROADWAYS CONSIDERABLY WEAKENED BY THE FLOODING IN MAY...WASHOUTS
ARE POSSIBLE...AND THAT COULD POSE A DEADLY RISK.
 
HEAVY RAIN WAS FALLING IN THE SANDISFIELD AREA AT 610 PM AND IT WILL
CONTINUE AT LEAST UNTIL 715 PM.
 
MORE THUNDERSTORMS WILL FORM THIS EVENING IN SOUTHERN BERKSHIRE
COUNTY.
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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, Jun 16, 5:08 PM EDT, 1 hour 6 minutes before
MAZ010-NYZ013-162350-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
510 PM EDT SUN JUN 16 1991

A VIGOUS THUNDERSTORM WAS POUNCING NORTHWESTERN BERKSHIRE COUNTY AND
NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL COLUMBIA COUNTY.

THE PRIME AREA OF RAIN WAS FROM HILLSDALE IN COLUMBIA COUNTY TO THE
NORTH ADAMS AREA IN BERKSHIRE COUNTY MASSACHUSETTS AT FIVE O CLOCK.

AN OBSERVER AT PITTSFIELD NOTED TORENTIAL RAIN.

THE RAIN IS BECOMING HEAVIER AND THE STORM IS REDEVELOPING
SOUTHWESTWARD TO NEAR TAGHKANIC.

THE THUNDERSTORM IS HEADING EAST SOUTHEAST AROUND 30 MILES AN HOUR
AND WILL AFFECT GREAT BARRINGTON AROUND HALF PAST FIVE O CLOCK.  ALL
PARTS OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY SHOULD GET A DOUSING BEFORE 610 PM.
IF YOU LIVE IN BERSHIRE COUNTY...GET INDOORS OR INTO A VEHICLE.
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS A FLOODED ROADWAY.  THIS STORM COULD
PRODUCE DAMAGE.

END

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 16, 5:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningALYBerkshire63 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Massachusetts, 1991Every flash flood warning in 1991

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.