Alert archive / New York / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 37, NWS Buffalo, NY

July 18, 1997Erie County, New York

NWS Buffalo, NY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 18, 1997, 4:50 PM EDT for Erie County, New York. It was in force for 95 min. 3 reports 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 18, 1997, 4:50 PM EDT (20:50 UTC)
Expired: Jul 18, 1997, 6:25 PM EDT
In force: 95 min
Issued by: NWS Buffalo, NY
Area: Whole counties

County Erie County, NY

The radar

The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 21 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:53 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
Jul 18, 4:55 PM EDT	Hail 0.75	Kenmore, NY
Jul 18, 5:10 PM EDT	Hail 1.75	Clarence, NY
Jul 18, 5:50 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 64	Orchard Park, NY

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 18, 1:45 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Buffalo Intl Airport, NY (KBUF), launched 12:00Z, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 20 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: 7 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -94 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1353 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 132 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBUF 182049 RRA
SVRBUF
NYC029-NYZ521-522-182225-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
450 PM EDT FRI JUL 18 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BUFFALO NY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 625 PM
EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN WESTERN NEW YORK

   ...ERIE COUNTY

AND THE ADJACENT NEARSHORE WATERS OF THE GREAT LAKES...
 
AT 445 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER THE
NIAGARA PENINSULA NEAR NIAGARA FALLS AND WELLAND. THIS STORM WAS MOVING
SOUTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL MOVE ACROSS THE BUFFALO
METROPOLITAN AREA FROM NORTHWEST TO SOUTHEAST FROM 445 TO 545 PM.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH
AND/OR HAIL 3/4 INCH OR LARGER. FOR YOUR PROTECTION FROM
POTENTIALLY DAMAGING WINDS...MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS. HEAVY RAIdNS MAY ALSO CAUSE RAPID
FLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. DON'T ATTEMPT TO
CROSS FLOODED ROADWAYS.

MCLAUGHLIN

The office that day

Everything else NWS Buffalo, NY issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 18, 1:51 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BUF	Chautauqua	59 min
Jul 18, 2:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BUF	Jefferson	60 min
Jul 18, 2:55 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BUF	Cattaraugus	80 min
Jul 18, 3:11 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BUF	Allegany	79 min
Jul 18, 3:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BUF	Lewis	60 min
Jul 18, 4:39 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BUF	Niagara, Orleans	66 min
Jul 18, 5:22 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BUF	Genesee	63 min
Jul 18, 6:03 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BUF	Cattaraugus, Wyoming	62 min
Jul 18, 7:05 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BUF	Erie	45 min
Jul 18, 7:49 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BUF	Cattaraugus	61 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in New York, 1997 Every 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.