Alert archive / Massachusetts / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

July 13, 1996Middlesex County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this tornado warning at Jul 13, 1996, 4:40 PM EDT for Middlesex County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 20 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 13, 1996, 4:40 PM EDT (20:40 UTC)
Expired
Jul 13, 1996, 5:00 PM EDT
In force
20 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, 8.7 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 1996-07-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 985 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 1996-07-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 92 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
985 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
492 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
92 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
149 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 132040
TORBOS
MAC017-132100-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
440 PM EDT SAT JUL 13 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  500 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  MASSACHUSETTS
 
   ...MIDDLESEX COUNTY
 
AT 440 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A TORNADO NEAR
BILLERICA.  THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTH AT 50 MPH AND WILL MOVE THROUGH
TYNGSBOROUGH BY 450 PM.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
 
WTB/JL

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 13, 1:17 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningBOXWorcester12 hr
Jul 13, 2:24 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningBOXNorfolk10 hr
Jul 13, 4:08 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningBOXFranklin, Hampshire6 hr
Jul 13, 4:08 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningBOXHampden6 hr

Nearby

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.