Alert archive / Massachusetts / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 74, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

August 9, 1997Worcester County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 9, 1997, 6:53 PM EDT for Worcester County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 52 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 9, 1997, 6:53 PM EDT (22:53 UTC)
Expired
Aug 9, 1997, 7:45 PM EDT
In force
52 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 22:57 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Albany, NY (KALY), launched 12:00Z, 10.9 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 1997-08-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2 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, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 1997-08-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 44 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-219 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1304 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
44 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
41 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 092250 RRA
SVRBOS
MAC027-092345-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
653 PM EDT SAT AUG 9 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS
 
   ...WORCESTER COUNTY
 
AT 650 PM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR CLINTON. THE STORM
IS MOVING SOUTH AND IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR SHREWSBURY AT 730 PM.
 
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.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 9, 5:46 PM EDT, 1 hour 7 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MASSACHUSETTS
546 PM EDT SAT AUG 9 1997

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0310 PM    WRENTHAM                  MA   .75 INCH HAIL
08/09/97   NORFOLK                        REPORTED BY POLICE

0336 PM    CONCORD                   MA   .75 INCH HAIL
08/09/97   MIDDLESEX                      REPORTED BY SPOTTER

0340 PM    WINDHAM                   CT   .88 INCH HAIL
08/09/97   WINDHAM                        REPORTED BY SPOTTER

NOTCHEY
Local storm report, Aug 9, 5:47 PM EDT, 1 hour 6 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MASSACHUSETTS
546 PM EDT SAT AUG 9 1997

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0310 PM    WRENTHAM                  MA   .75 INCH HAIL
08/09/97   NORFOLK                        REPORTED BY POLICE

0336 PM    CONCORD                   MA   .75 INCH HAIL
08/09/97   MIDDLESEX                      REPORTED BY SPOTTER

0340 PM\    WINDHAM                   CT   .88 INCH HAIL
08/09/97   WINDHAM                        REPORTED BY SPOTTER

NOTCHEY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 9, 3:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXBristol, Norfolk56 min
Aug 9, 3:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXMiddlesex60 min
Aug 9, 5:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXHampden49 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.