Alert archive / Massachusetts / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 68, NWS Albany, NY

August 22, 1997Berkshire County, Massachusetts

NWS Albany, NY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 22, 1997, 5:14 PM EDT for Berkshire County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 61 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
Aug 22, 1997, 5:14 PM EDT (21:14 UTC)
Expired
Aug 22, 1997, 6:15 PM EDT
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Albany, NY
Area
Whole counties

County Berkshire County, MA

The radar

The Albany radar (KENX), 74 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:18 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
Aug 22, 5:22 PM EDTHail 1North Egremont, MA
Aug 22, 5:30 PM EDTHail 0.75Great Barrington, 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 (KALY), launched 12:00Z, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 62 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 1997-08-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 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 1997-08-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 10 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
469 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
58 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 KALB 222116 RRA
SVRALB
MAC003-222215-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
514 PM EDT FRI AUG 22 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBANY NY  HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST MASSACHUSETTS
 
   ...SOUTHERN BERKSHIRE COUNTY
 
 
AT 515 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM JUST SOUTHEAST OF HILLSDALE.
 
THIS STORM IS MOVING NORTHEAST ABOUT 20 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL BE NEAR -
 
5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF HILLSDALE AT  520 PM.
GREAT BARRINGTON AT  535 PM.
7 MILES EAST OF HOUSATONIC AT  600 PM.
10 MILES NORTH OF SANDISFIELD AT  605 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 FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Massachusetts, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1997

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.