Alert archive / Massachusetts / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 32, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

July 8, 1996Hampden County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 8, 1996, 7:11 PM EDT for Hampden County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 49 min. 2 reports 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 8, 1996, 7:11 PM EDT (23:11 UTC)
Expired
Jul 8, 1996, 8:00 PM EDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area
Whole counties

County Hampden County, MA

The radar

The Boston radar (KBOX), 125 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:13 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 8, 7:11 PM EDTHail 0.75Westfield, MA
Jul 8, 7:14 PM EDTHail 0.75West Springfield, 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, 11.2 hours before the alert went out and 116 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 1996-07-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 180 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, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 1996-07-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 84 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
180 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-113 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1080 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
84 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
204 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KBOS 082310
SVRBOS
MAC013-090000-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
711 PM EDT MON JUL 8 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST MASSACHUSETTS
 
   ...HAMPDEN COUNTY
 
AT 707 PM...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER WESTFIELD
AND SOUTHWICK IN WESTERN HAMPDEN COUNTY. THIS STORM WILL LIKELY PRODUCE
DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL AS IT MOVES EAST ACROSS HAMPDEN THROUGH 8
PM...AFFECTING SPRINGFIELD...WILBRAHAM EAST THROUGH BRIMFIELD AND
HOLLAND.
 
LOCALIZED STREET FLOODING AND FLOODING OF POOR DRAINAGE AREAS IS LIKELY
AS WELL AS OVER ONE INCH OF RAIN IN AN HOUR IS ALSO POSSIBLE.
 
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.
 
DRV/RMT

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 8, 3:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXWorcester40 min
Jul 8, 3:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXFranklin45 min
Jul 8, 4:09 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXMiddlesex, Worcester66 min
Jul 8, 5:39 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXWorcester51 min
Jul 8, 6:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXMiddlesex69 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.