Alert archive / Rhode Island / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 15, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

August 20, 1997Providence County, Rhode Island

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this tornado warning at Aug 20, 1997, 3:36 PM EDT for Providence County, Rhode Island. It was in force for 54 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 20, 1997, 3:36 PM EDT (19:36 UTC)
Expired
Aug 20, 1997, 4:30 PM EDT
In force
54 min
Issued by
NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area
Whole counties

County Providence County, RI

The nearest sounding before it

Chatham, MA (KCHH), launched 12:00Z, 7.6 hours before the alert went out and 135 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 1997-08-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 100 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 1997-08-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 18 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
100 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-23 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
945 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
18 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
36 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.

994 
WFUS1 KBOS 201935 RRA
TORBOS
RIC007-202030-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
336 PM EDT WED AUG 20 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  430 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH RHODE ISLAND
 
   ...PROVIDENCE COUNTY
 
AT 330 PM A NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOTTER REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD
OVER SMITHFIELD RHODE ISLAND. OVER THE PAST TWO HOURS...SOME FUNNELS
HAVE TOUCHED DOWN AS SMALL TORNADOES OVER SOUTHEASTERN NEW ENGLAND. NO
REPORTS OF DAMAGE HAVE BEEN RECEIVED THUS FAR. REDIDENTS SHOULD BE ALERT
FOR CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE COVER.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
GIRODO/LEE

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Rhode Island, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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.