Alert archive / New York / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1991

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Buffalo, NY

May 1, 1991Genesee County, Wyoming County, New York

NWS Buffalo, NY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 1, 1991, 3:00 PM EDT for Genesee County, Wyoming County, New York. It was in force for 60 min. 1 report 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
May 1, 1991, 3:00 PM EDT (19:00 UTC)
Expired
May 1, 1991, 4:00 PM EDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Buffalo, NY
Area
Whole counties

Counties Genesee County, NY, Wyoming County, NY

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 1, 3:21 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Genesee, 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, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 41 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 1991-05-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 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 1991-05-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 214 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
1088 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
58 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
214 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
296 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 011901
SVRBUF
NYC073-037-121-012000-

BULLETIN  EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
300 PM EST WED MAY 1 1991

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 400 PM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING NEW YORK
COUNTIES...

ORLEANS... GENESEE... AND WYOMING AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS

AT 255 PM BUFFALO RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM
WESTERN NIAGARA COUNTY... SOUTH ACROSS WESTERN ERIE COUNTY... AND
EASTERN LAKE ERIE... WIND GUSTS OF NEAR 60 MPH HVE BEEN REPORTED WITH
THESE STORMS. THE LINE WAS MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.

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.

WEBBER

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, May 1, 2:34 PM EDT, 26 minutes before
NYZ001-021-022-002-003-004-005-012000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
230 PM EDT WED MAY 1 1991

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 246 CONTINUES FOR ALL OF
WESTERN AND CENTRAL NEW YORK UNTIL 7PM THIS EVENING...

...AT 230 PM...BUFFALO RADAR INDICATED A 40 MILE WIDE AREA OF
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WHICH STRETCHED FROM LAKE SIMCOE IN ONTARIO...
SOUTH ACROSS TORONTO...HAMILTON...THE WESTERN HALF OF THE NIAGARA
PENINSULA...EASTERN LAKE ERIE...AND ON INTO CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY OF
NEW YORK AND NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA FROM ERIE TO MEADVILLE.

A NARROW LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...WAS EMBEDDED
IN THIS AREA FROM TORONTO TO GRIMSBY TO DUNNVILLE.

THE LEADING EDGE OF THE ACTIVITY WAS ABOUT 15 MILES WEST OF BUFFALO.

MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 50 MILES AN HOUR.                                  [

...SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY CONTAIN STRONG DAMAGING WINDS AND
POSSIBLE HAIL. BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS
AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE SHELTER IF WARRANTED. LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS
AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

MCLAUGHLIN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 1, 2:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFErie, Niagara75 min
May 1, 3:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFOrleans60 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in New York, 1991Every severe thunderstorm 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.