Alert archive / Massachusetts / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

July 3, 1997Worcester County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this tornado warning at Jul 3, 1997, 7:37 PM EDT for Worcester County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 53 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: Jul 3, 1997, 7:37 PM EDT (23:37 UTC)
Expired: Jul 3, 1997, 8:30 PM EDT
In force: 53 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 23:37 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	Remark
Jul 3, 7:45 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Hardwick, 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 3, 4:00 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Albany, NY (KALY), launched 12:00Z, 11.6 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: 901 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -44 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 598 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 94 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 101 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.3
Supercell composite: 1.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBOS 032340 RRA
TORBOS
MAC027-040030-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
737 PM EDT THU JUL 3 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS
 
   ...NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY
 
AT 735 PM...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO IN
NORTHEAST FRANKLIN COUNTY NEAR ORANGE AND WARWICK. IT WILL MOVE EAST
INTO ROYALSTON AND WINCHENDON BY 8 PM. LARGE HAIL MAY ALSO ACCOMPANY
THIS STORM.
 
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING OUT OF EASTERN HAMPSHIRE COUNTY
AND WILL ALSO AFFECT PORTIONS OF NORTHERN WORCESTER COUNTY THROUGH 830
PM.  DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM.
THIS STORM ALSO HAS THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE A TORNADO.
 
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.
 
DRV/GF

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 3, 5:45 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Franklin	30 min
Jul 3, 6:10 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Hampden, Hampshire	65 min
Jul 3, 6:17 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	BOX	Hampden	58 min
Jul 3, 6:46 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	BOX	Franklin	59 min
Jul 3, 6:48 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	BOX	Hampshire	57 min
Jul 3, 7:02 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Hampden, Hampshire	43 min
Jul 3, 7:44 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Franklin, Hampshire	61 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Massachusetts, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.