Alert archive / Massachusetts / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 48, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

July 9, 1997Worcester County, Massachusetts; Cheshire County, New Hampshire

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 9, 1997, 3:28 PM EDT for Worcester County, Massachusetts; Cheshire County, New Hampshire. It was in force for 62 min. 3 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 9, 1997, 3:28 PM EDT (19:28 UTC)
Expired: Jul 9, 1997, 4:30 PM EDT
In force: 62 min
Issued by: NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area: Whole counties

Counties Worcester County, MA, Cheshire County, NH

The radar

The Boston radar (KBOX), 108 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:28 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

Time	Report	Where
Jul 9, 3:47 PM EDT	Hail 0.75	Fitzwilliam, NH
Jul 9, 4:25 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Templeton, MA
Jul 9, 4:30 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 70	Holden, 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 9, 1:15 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Albany, NY (KALY), launched 12:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 143 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: 1101 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -82 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 936 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 122 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 146 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 4.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBOS 091928 RRA
SVRBOS
MAC027-NHC005-092030-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
328 PM EDT WED JUL 9 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  430 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS
 
   ...NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
 
 
IN SOUTHWEST NEW HAMPSHIRE
 
   ...SOUTHERN CHESHIRE COUNTY
 
AT 325 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHERN CHESHIRE COUNTY. THESE STORMS ARE
MOVING INTO NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY. THESE STORMS HAVE A HAD A HISTORY
OF PRODUCING HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.
 
DNRV/WGH

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 9, 2:42 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Hampden, Hampshire	63 min
Jul 9, 2:42 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Franklin	63 min
Jul 9, 3:41 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire	64 min
Jul 9, 3:52 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Middlesex	68 min
Jul 9, 4:11 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Worcester	64 min
Jul 9, 4:35 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Middlesex	55 min
Jul 9, 2:33 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Cheshire	57 min
Jul 9, 3:36 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Hillsborough	69 min
Jul 9, 3:36 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	BOX	Cheshire	24 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Massachusetts, 1997 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in New Hampshire, 1997 Every 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.