Alert archive / Massachusetts / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 65, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

August 3, 1997Essex County, Middlesex County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 3, 1997, 5:41 PM EDT for Essex County, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 49 min. 1 report 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 3, 1997, 5:41 PM EDT (21:41 UTC)
Expired
Aug 3, 1997, 6:30 PM EDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Essex County, MA, Middlesex County, MA

The radar

The Boston radar (KBOX), 67 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:42 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 3, 6:00 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50Newburyport, 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

Chatham, MA (KCHH), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 138 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, Chatham, MA at 12:00Z on 1997-08-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1095 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, Chatham, MA at 12:00Z on 1997-08-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 40 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1095 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-76 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1140 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
40 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
39 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBOS 032140 RRA
SVRBOS
MAC017-009-032230-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
541 PM EDT SUN AUG 3 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS
 
   ...EASTERN MIDDLESEX COUNTY
 
IN NORTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS
 
   ...ESSEX COUNTY
 
AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS.
 
 
AT 540 PM...DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR
CONCORD. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH AND WILL MOVE THROUGH
LEXINGTON AND MEDFORD BY 555 PM AND NEAR SAUGUS AND LYNN BY 610 PM. THE
STORM WILL LIKELY PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL.
 
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 FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
 
EVT/BB

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.