Alert archive / Massachusetts / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 1, NWS Albany, NY
NWS Albany, NY issued this tornado warning at May 11, 1996, 6:08 PM EDT for Berkshire County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 37 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 11, 1996, 6:08 PM EDT (22:08 UTC)
- Expired
- May 11, 1996, 6:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 37 min
- Issued by
- NWS Albany, NY
- Area
- Whole counties
County Berkshire County, MA
The radar
The Albany radar (KENX), 74 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:08 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.
Open the radar archive at this moment
The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 11, 6:11 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | New Marlborough, MA |
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.
The nearest sounding before it
Albany, NY (KALB), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 21 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -21 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 637 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 47 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 84 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 123 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KALB 112208 TORALB MAC003-112245- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY 608 PM EDT SAT MAY 11 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBANY NY HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 645 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN WEST MASSACHUSETTS ...SOUTHERN BERKSHIRE COUNTY AT 6:05 PM DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A POSSIBLE TORNADO ABOUT 3 MILES NORTH OCANAAN...NEAR ASHLEY FALLS IN SOUTHERN BERKSHIRE COUNTY. AT 6:20 PM THIS TORNADO WILL BE ABOUT 13 MILES SOUTHEAST OF STOCKBRIDGE...NEAR COLD SPRINGS IN SOUTHERN BERKSHIRE COUNTY. IF YOU LIVE IN THIS AREA - BE READY TO SEEK SHELTER IN A BASEMENT OR SMALL INTERIOR ROOM - AWAY FROM WINDOWS. TORRENTIAL RAIN AND FLOODING MAY ALSO OCCUR WITH THIS STORM. POORLY DRAINED LOW AREAS...SUCH AS UNDERPASSES...MAY FLOOD. DO NOT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD. 42.07 73.32 42.16 73.10 42.26 72.88 42.35 72.66 42.44 72.44 IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BNLANKETS...PILLOWS... OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
In the hours before
Local storm report, May 11, 5:49 PM EDT, 19 minutes before
NEW YORK STATEWIDE POLICE INFORMATION NETWORK
TROOP F
0549PM SAT MAY 11 1996
FCSD WLSR QHQT QTRF APTS WAPT
01093 FILE 28 ORANGE COUNTY SO NY0350003 MAY 11-96
TO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
ATTENTION SEMO DUTY OFFICER
TORNADO REPORT
COUNTY(S) AFFECTED: ORANGE
CHECK ONE OR MORE AS APPROPRIATE:
( ) - REPORT BASED UPON DAMAGE
(X) - FUNNEL CLOUD ACTUALLY SIGHTED (SEND ADDED INFO MESSAGE)
( ) - WATER SPOUT ACTUALLY SIGHTED (SEND ADDED INFO MESSAGE)
LOCATION (INCLUDING TOWN AND NEAREST ROAD): TOWN OF GOSHEN AND TOWN OF
HAMPTONBURGH
NAME AND ADDRESS OF PERSON(S) REPORTING TORNADO(S): DOMINIC GREENE
ORANGE COUNTY EMO
DATE AND TIME OF TORNADO TOUCHDOWN: 051196 1731HRS
PLACE OF TORNADO TOUCHDOWN: BETWEEN FLORIDA AND GOSHEN / STONY FORD GOLF COURSE
DIRECTION OF TORNADO TRAVEL: NORTH EAST
ESTIMATED WIDTH OF TORNADO AT GROUND: UNK
ESTIMATED LENGTH OF TORNADO PATH: UNK
PLACE OF TORNADO LIFTOFF: UNK
DAMAGE REPORTED TO (CHECK): ( )-CROPS ( )-FARM BLDGS
( )-POWER/TELCO LINES ( )-POWER/TELCO POLES ( )-SMALL TREES
( )-LARGE TREES ( )-PRIVATE HOMES ( )-COMM. BLDGS
( )-OTHER (SPECIFY) UNK AT THIS TIME
NUMBER OF FATALITIES: UNK NUMBER OF INJURED: UNK
REMARKS:
AUTH PHONE #: 914 294-7422
AUTH DOMINICK GREENE, ASST. DIRECTOR ORANGE EMO SGT HAAS/05:50PM
OPER - HAAS,GEORGE R 1749Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Massachusetts, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes in 1996
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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.