Alert archive / Massachusetts / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 26, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

July 4, 1996Essex County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 4, 1996, 4:58 PM EDT for Essex County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 47 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
Jul 4, 1996, 4:58 PM EDT (20:58 UTC)
Expired
Jul 4, 1996, 5:45 PM EDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area
Whole counties

County Essex County, MA

The radar

The Boston radar (KBOX), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:58 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 4, 5:00 PM EDTHail 0.75Salem, 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

Chatham, MA (KCHH), launched 12:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 131 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 1996-07-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2 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, Chatham, MA at 12:00Z on 1996-07-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 35 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-184 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
669 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
35 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
68 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 KBOS 042058
SVRBOS
MAC009-042145-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
458 PM EDT THU JUL 4 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  MASSACHUSETTS
 
   ...EASTERN ESSEX COUNTY
 
AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS.
 
AT 455 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM OVER PEABODY AND BEVERLY. THE STORM IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT
30 MPH. THE STORM WILL MOVE THROUGH ESSEX AND MANCHESTER BY 530 PM.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
 
GAF/EVT

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 4, 2:56 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXSuffolk34 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Massachusetts, 1996Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.