Alert archive / New York / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 61, NWS Buffalo, NY

August 8, 1996Chautauqua County, New York

NWS Buffalo, NY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 8, 1996, 1:33 PM EDT for Chautauqua County, New York. It was in force for 57 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
Aug 8, 1996, 1:33 PM EDT (17:33 UTC)
Expired
Aug 8, 1996, 2:30 PM EDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Buffalo, NY
Area
Whole counties

County Chautauqua County, NY

The radar

The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:35 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Buffalo Intl Airport, NY (KBUF), launched 12:00Z, 5.6 hours before the alert went out and 91 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 12:00Z on 1996-08-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1268 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 12:00Z on 1996-08-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 90 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1268 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-59 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1001 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
90 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
72 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBUF 081734
SVRBUF
NYC013-081830-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
133 PM EDT THU AUG 8 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BUFFALO NY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 230 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN WESTERN NEW YORK

   ...CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY
 
AT 125 PM...BUFFALO DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
OVER THE CENTRAL PORTION OF CHAUTAUQUA LAKE NEAR BEMUS POINT. THE
STORM WAS MOVING TOWARD THE EAST NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR AND
SHOULD PASS ABOUT MIDWAY BETWEEN JAMESTOWN AND SINCLAIRVILLE TO NEAR
CHERRY CREEK BY 215 PM. THIS STORM PRODUCED WIND DAMAGE NEAR THE
VILLAGE OF STEDMAN.
 
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.

MCLAUGHLIN

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 8, 9:48 AM EDT, 3 hours 45 minutes before
NYZ001>008-010>014-019>021-081600-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
949 AM EDT THU AUG 8 1996

...LIGHTNING ASSOCIATED WITH THUNDERSTORMS ALONG SOUTH SHORE OF LAKE
ONTARIO CAUSING DAMAGE...

POLICE AGENCIES IN WAYNE COUNTY ALONG THE SOUTH SHORE OF LAKE ONTARIO
HAVE REPORTED NUMEROUS LIGHTNING STRIKES THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY. IN
THE TOWN OF ONTARIO THERE HAVE BEEN REPORTS OF LIGHTNING STRIKES
DOWNING TREES AND POWER LINES RESULTING IN SOME FIRES. ALSO LIGHTNING
HAS DOWNED POWER LINES IN THE VILLAGE OF SODUS AND THE TOWN OF
WILLIAMSON.

RADAR INDICATES LOCALIZED HEAVY RAINFALL RATES OF 1.0 TO 1.50 INCHES
PER HOUR OVER PORTIONS OF WAYNE..ORLEANS AND MONROE COUNTY. OTHER
STORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND GUSTY WINDS ARE
OVER THE EASTERN END OF LAKE ERIE AND WILL MOVE INTO ERIE COUNTY AND
THE BUFFALO METRO AREA THROUGH THE REST OF THE MORNING.

PACE
Local storm report, Aug 8, 10:14 AM EDT, 3 hours 19 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NEW YORK
1015 AM EDT THU AUG 08 1996

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1010 AM    SODUS                     NY   FLOODING
08/08/96   WAYNE                          WIDESPREAD FLOODING LOW
                                          LYING AREAS...MASSIVE
                                          LIGHTNING DAMAGE

1011 AM    MEDINA                    NY   FLOODING
08/08/96   ORLEANS                        WIDESPREAD
                                          FLOODING...BUSINESSES AND
                                          HOMES. STREETS CLOSED.

1013 AM    ALBION                    NY   FLOODING
08/08/96   ORLEANS                        WIDESPREAD
                                          FLOODING...HOMES AND
                                          BUSINESSES.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 8, 8:23 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningBUFMonroe, Orleans2 hr
Aug 8, 8:23 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningBUFWayne2 hr
Aug 8, 10:34 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningBUFMonroe, Orleans2 hr
Aug 8, 10:34 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningBUFWayne2 hr
Aug 8, 12:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFChautauqua55 min
Aug 8, 2:39 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningBUFCattaraugus81 min
Aug 8, 4:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFNiagara, Orleans75 min
Aug 8, 5:03 PM EDTTornado WarningBUFNiagara57 min
Aug 8, 5:12 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningBUFErie, Niagara88 min
Aug 8, 5:12 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningBUFOrleans88 min
Aug 8, 5:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFErie58 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.