Alert archive / Massachusetts / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 7, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

May 1, 1997Worcester County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 1, 1997, 6:32 PM EDT for Worcester County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 43 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
May 1, 1997, 6:32 PM EDT (22:32 UTC)
Expired
May 1, 1997, 7:15 PM EDT
In force
43 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 22:35 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
May 1, 6:59 PM EDTHail 0.75Milford, 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 (KALB), launched 12:00Z, 10.5 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 1997-05-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 1997-05-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 278 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
965 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
278 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
337 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 KBOS 012231 RRA
SVRBOS
MAC027-012315-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
632 PM EDT THU MAY 1 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  715 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS
 
   ...SOUTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
 
RADAR INDICATES A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR THOMPSON CONNECTICUT MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 60 MPH. IT WILL MOVE THROUGH WEBSTER...DOUGLAS...SUTTON AND
NORTHBRIDGE MASSACHUSETTS BY 650 PM. THIS HAS PRODUCED LARGE HAIL IN
WINDHAM COUNTY CONNECTICUT DURING THE PAST HOUR.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DES8TRUCTIVE 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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 1, 7:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXMiddlesex45 min
May 1, 7:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXEssex41 min

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.