Alert archive / Massachusetts / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 53, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

July 9, 1997Worcester County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 9, 1997, 4:11 PM EDT for Worcester County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 64 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, 4:11 PM EDT (20:11 UTC)
Expired: Jul 9, 1997, 5:15 PM EDT
In force: 64 min
Issued by: NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area: Whole counties

County Worcester County, MA

The radar

The Boston radar (KBOX), 77 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:13 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, 4:25 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Templeton, MA
Jul 9, 4:30 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 70	Holden, MA
Jul 9, 4:43 PM EDT	Hail 0.75	Lunenburg, 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, 8.2 hours before the alert went out and 162 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.

434 
WUUS1 KBOS 092012 RRA
SVRBOS
MAC027-092115-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
411 PM EDT WED JUL 9 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  515 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS
 
   ...WORCESTER COUNTY
 
AT 405 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING EAST INTO WORCESTER COUNTY. THESE STORMS
CONTINUE TO PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. NUMEROUS REPORTS OF
DOWN TRESS AND POWER LINES HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN HAMPDEN AND HAMPSHIRE
COUNTIES IN MASSACHUSETTS...AND CHESHIRE COUNTY NEW HAMPSHIRE.
THIS WARNING EXTENDS THE WARNING PREVIOUSLY IN EFFECT FOR NORTHERN
WORCESTER COUNTY.
 
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.
 
 
WGH/DRV
&

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, 3:28 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Worcester	62 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, 4:35 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Middlesex	55 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Massachusetts, 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.