Alert archive / Massachusetts / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

August 20, 1997Barnstable County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this tornado warning at Aug 20, 1997, 1:36 PM EDT for Barnstable County, Massachusetts. 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, 1:36 PM EDT (17:36 UTC)
Expired
Aug 20, 1997, 2:30 PM EDT
In force
54 min
Issued by
NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area
Whole counties

County Barnstable County, MA

The nearest sounding before it

Chatham, MA (KCHH), launched 12:00Z, 5.6 hours before the alert went out and 25 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.

000 
TTAA00 KBOS 201737 RRA
TORBOS
MAC001-201830-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
136 PM EDT WED AUG 20 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  230 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS
 
   ...BARNSTABLE COUNTY
 
AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS.
 
 
THERE HAVE BEEN WATERSPOUTS AND FUNNEL CLOUD SIGHTINGS ALONG THE CAPE
COD CANAL NEAR BOURNE AND THE SAGAMORE BRIDGE. THE CELLS PRODUCING THE
FUNNEL CLOUDS AND WATERSPOUTS WERE DRIFTING TO EAST. WATERSPOUTS THAT
CROSS ONTO THE LAND BECOME TORNADOES AND THE IMMEDIATE THREAT IS TO
SANDWICH AND MASHPEE.
 
DRAG
 
 
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 20, 1:44 PM EDTTornado WarningBOXPlymouth61 min
Aug 20, 2:06 PM EDTTornado WarningBOXBristol69 min
Aug 20, 2:38 PM EDTTornado WarningBOXPlymouth52 min
Aug 20, 3:29 PM EDTTornado WarningBOXBarnstable31 min
Aug 20, 3:43 PM EDTTornado WarningBOXPlymouth47 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Massachusetts, 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.