Alert archive / Massachusetts / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Albany, NY

July 3, 1997Berkshire County, Massachusetts; Columbia County, New York

NWS Albany, NY issued this tornado warning at Jul 3, 1997, 5:15 PM EDT for Berkshire County, Massachusetts; Columbia County, New York. It was in force for 60 min. 6 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 3, 1997, 5:15 PM EDT (21:15 UTC)
Expired: Jul 3, 1997, 6:15 PM EDT
In force: 60 min
Issued by: NWS Albany, NY
Area: Whole counties

Counties Berkshire County, MA, Columbia County, NY

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where
Jul 3, 5:23 PM EDT	Tornado F1	Copake Falls, NY
Jul 3, 5:36 PM EDT	Tornado F1	Florida, MA
Jul 3, 5:46 PM EDT	Hail 1.75	Hillsdale, NY
Jul 3, 6:05 PM EDT	Tornado F2	Monterey, MA
Jul 3, 6:11 PM EDT	Tornado F2	West Otis, MA
Jul 3, 6:14 PM EDT	Hail 3	West Otis, 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jul 3, 4:00 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Albany, NY (KALY), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 54 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 901 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -44 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 598 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 94 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 101 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.3
Supercell composite: 1.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KALB 032114 RRA
TORALB
MAC003-NYC021-032215-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
515 PM EDT THU JUL 3 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBANY NY  HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN WEST MASSACHUSETTS
 
   ...BERKSHIRE COUNTY
 
 
IN EAST NEW YORK
 
   ...COLUMBIA COUNTY
 
 
AT 515 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO
ABOUT 5 MILES WEST OF COPAKE.
 
THIS TORNDAO IS MOVING EAST ABOUT 25 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL BE NEAR -
 
COPAKE AT  520 PM.
HILLSDALE AT 525 PM.
GREAT BARRINGTON AT  545 PM.
 
TAKE COVER NOW!
 
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 INTO2 A DITCH OR CULVERT.
 
BLAES /NWSFO ALY

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 3, 5:05 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ALY	Berkshire	70 min
Jul 3, 6:14 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	ALY	Berkshire	61 min
Jul 3, 7:08 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ALY	Berkshire	67 min
Jul 3, 7:16 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	ALY	Berkshire	59 min
Jul 3, 12:15 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ALY	Saratoga, Warren	60 min
Jul 3, 1:08 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ALY	Herkimer	67 min
Jul 3, 2:03 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ALY	Schoharie	57 min
Jul 3, 2:50 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ALY	Washington	55 min
Jul 3, 3:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ALY	Albany, Schoharie	60 min
Jul 3, 4:42 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ALY	Columbia	63 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Massachusetts, 1997 Tornado Warnings in New York, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.