Alert archive / Massachusetts / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1992

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 3, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

May 2, 1992Worcester County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 2, 1992, 6:40 PM EDT for Worcester County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 65 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 2, 1992, 6:40 PM EDT (22:40 UTC)
Expired
May 2, 1992, 7:45 PM EDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area
Whole counties

County Worcester County, MA

The nearest sounding before it

Albany, NY (KALB), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 162 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 1992-05-02Temperature 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, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 1992-05-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 265 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1002 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
60 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
265 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
318 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 KORH 022242
SVRORH
MAC027-022345-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WORCESTER MA
640 PM EDT SAT MAY 2 1992
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WORCESTER HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS
 
   ...NORTH CENTRAL WORCESTER COUNTY
 
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS APPROACHING THE QUABBIN RESERVIOR MOVING
SOUTHEAST 50 TO 60 MPH. HAM RADIO OPERATORS REPORTED HAIL AND HIGH
WINDS. THE THUNDERSTORM IS APPROACHING WESTMINISTER AND WINCHENDON
 
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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 2, 4:44 PM EDT, 1 hour 56 minutes before
MAZ005-006-CTZ001-002-004-005-030100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOSTON MA
440 PM EDT SAT MAY 02 1992

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 187 HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR
   WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS AND WESTERN CONNECTICUT EFFECTIVE
   UNTIL 9 PM EDT...

A MOIST AND UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE OVER THE WATCH AREA WILL HELP
TO MAINTAIN AND INTENSIFY THUNDERSTORMS RACING RAPIDLY EAST
FROM NEW YORK STATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. THE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY MOVE INTO THE WATCH AREA BY 6PM
AND SOME OF THE STORMS MAY CONTAIN LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING STRONG
WINDS.
Special weather statement, May 2, 6:28 PM EDT, 12 minutes before
RIZALL-030030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PROVIDENCE RI
627 PM EDT SAT MAY 2 1992

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF RHODE ISLAND
UNTIL 1100 PM...

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS IN THE ATMOSPHERE
ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTAINING
LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

AT 600 PM...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH DAMAGING WINDS WERE MOVING
RAPIDLY EAST SOUTHEAST ACROSS WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS.  THESE STORMS
MAY BEGIN TO AFFECT PORTIONS OF WESTERN RHODE ISLAND AROUND 730 PM.

IF SEVERE WEATHER BECOMES IMMINENT FOR THE OCEAN STATE...WARNINGS
WILL BE ISSUED.  ALL RHODE ISLANDERS SHOULD R@EMAIN ALERT AND BE ON
THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATNING WEATHER.  STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO
FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

CADIMA

The office that day

Everything else NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 6:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXFranklin55 min
May 2, 6:48 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXHampden27 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Massachusetts, 1992Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1992

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.