Alert archive / Massachusetts / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1994

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 4, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

May 23, 1994Middlesex County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 23, 1994, 2:08 PM EDT for Middlesex County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 52 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 23, 1994, 2:08 PM EDT (18:08 UTC)
Expired
May 23, 1994, 3:00 PM EDT
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area
Whole counties

County Middlesex County, MA

The nearest sounding before it

Chatham, MA (KCHH), launched 12:00Z, 6.1 hours before the alert went out and 148 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, Chatham, MA at 12:00Z on 1994-05-23Temperature 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, Chatham, MA at 12:00Z on 1994-05-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -1 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1157 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
87 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 
WUUS1 KBOS 231809
SVRBOX
MAC017-231900-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
208 PM EDT MON MAY 23 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  300 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  MASSACHUSETTS
 
   ...NORTHERN MIDDLESEX COUNTY
 
AT 208 PM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF
LOWELL. THIS STORM WAS LIKELY PRODUCING LARGE HAIL. IT WAS MOVING TO THE
SOUTHEAST AT 40 MPH.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD
PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND
DEADLY LIGHTNING.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER...
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

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 23, 1:30 PM EDT, 38 minutes before
MAZ004-012-231900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WORCESTER MA
130 PM EDT MON MAY 23 1994

...THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN AND SMALL HAIL ARE OCCURRING IN
CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS...

AT 125 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM
WITH SMALL HAIL NEAR STERLING.  MARBLE SIZED HAIL WAS REPORTED AS
THIS STORM MOVED THROUGH LEOMINSTER AT 1PM.

THE STORM IS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH AND WILL AFFECT THE EASTERN
PORTION OF WORCESTER COUNTY UNTIL AROUND 3PM.

CULLEN
Special weather statement, May 23, 1:34 PM EDT, 34 minutes before
MAZ004-012-231900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WORCESTER MA
130 PM EDT MON MAY 23 1994

...THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN AND SMALL HAIL ARE OCCURRING IN
CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS...

AT 125 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM
WITH SMALL HAIL NEAR STERLING.  MARBLE SIZED HAIL WAS REPORTED AS
THIS STORM MOVED THROUGH LEOMINSTER AT 1PM.
                                                   $
THE STORM IS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH AND WILL AFFECT THE EASTERN
PORTION OF WORCESTER COUNTY UNTIL AROUND 3PM.

CULLEN
Special weather statement, May 23, 2:05 PM EDT, 3 minutes before
MAZ005-013-014-232000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
203 PM EST MON MAY 23 1994

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO BOSTONS WESTERN AND NORTHERN
SUBURBS BETWEEN 2 AND 4 PM...

AT 2 PM SEVERAL STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE APPROACHING THE WORCESTER
AND MIDDLESEX COUNTY LINE.  A FEW OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY CONTAIN
LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.  ONE INCH HAIL WAS REPORTED IN
NORTHBORO AT 155 PM.

AT 2 PM THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN THE PEPPERELL AREA AND
APPROACHING THE WESTBORO HOPKINGTON AREA.

BE ALERT FOR ANY LATER WARNINGS OR STATEMENTS.  SEEK SHELTER
IMMEDIATELY IF A WARNING IS ISSUED OR THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.
THE GREATEST THREAT OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS
THROUGH 330 PM WILL BE IN MIDDLESEX AND NORFOLK COUNTIES.

THOMPSON

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 23, 1:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXWorcester45 min
May 23, 2:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXWorcester56 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Massachusetts, 1994Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1994

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.