Alert archive / New York / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 23, NWS Buffalo, NY

May 20, 1996Monroe County, New York

NWS Buffalo, NY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 20, 1996, 9:09 PM EDT for Monroe County, New York. It was in force for 46 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 20, 1996, 9:09 PM EDT (01:09 UTC)
Expired
May 20, 1996, 9:55 PM EDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Buffalo, NY
Area
Whole counties

County Monroe County, NY

The radar

The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 93 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:11 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
May 20, 9:20 PM EDTThunderstorm WindRiga, NY

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

Buffalo Intl Airport, NY (KBUF), launched 00:00Z, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 90 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 00:00Z on 1996-05-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 381 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 00:00Z on 1996-05-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 110 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
381 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-126 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1456 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
110 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
192 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 KBUF 210110
SVRBUF
NYC055-210155-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
909 PM EDT MON MAY 20 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BUFFALO NY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 955 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN WEST NEW YORK

   ...MONROE COUNTY
 
AT 905 PM EDT BUFFALO DOPPLER SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDESTORM LOCATED
NEAR CHILI IN WESTERN MONROE COUNTY. THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE
EAST AT 40 MPH AND WILL ENTERING THE ROCHESTER METROPOLITAN AREA
BY 915 PM AND WEBSTER BY 930 PM. THIS STORM WILL PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAIN
AND POSSIBLE WIND GUSTS OVER 60 MPH.
 

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH
AND/OR HAIL 3/4 INCH OR LARGER. FOR YOUR PROTECTION FROM
POTENTIALLY DAMAGING WINDS...MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS. HEAVY RAINS MAY ALSO CAUSE RAPID
FLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. DON'T ATTEMPT TO
CROSS FLOODED ROADWAYS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Buffalo, NY issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 20, 8:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFErie59 min
May 20, 8:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFOrleans61 min
May 20, 8:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFGenesee50 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in New York, 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.