Alert archive / New York / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 51, NWS Buffalo, NY

August 16, 1997Chautauqua County, New York

NWS Buffalo, NY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 16, 1997, 11:43 AM EDT for Chautauqua County, New York. It was in force for 77 min. 2 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
Aug 16, 1997, 11:43 AM EDT (15:43 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 1997, 1:00 PM EDT
In force
77 min
Issued by
NWS Buffalo, NY
Area
Whole counties

County Chautauqua County, NY

The radar

The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:42 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 16, 12:00 PM EDTThunderstorm WindSilver Creek, NY
Aug 16, 12:30 PM EDTThunderstorm WindDunkirk, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Aug 16, 11:00 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Buffalo Intl Airport, NY (KBUF), launched 12:00Z, 3.7 hours before the alert went out and 91 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 12:00Z on 1997-08-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 518 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 12:00Z on 1997-08-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 126 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
518 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-21 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
740 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
126 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
187 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
2.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBUF 161543 RRA
SVRBUF
NYC013-NYZ520-161700-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
1143 AM EDT SAT AUG 16 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BUFFALO NY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 100 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN WEST NEW YORK

   ...CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY
 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR AT 11:40 INDICATES
INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS CROSSING CENTRAL LAKE ERIE. THESE STORMS
ARE RACING TO THE EAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR AND HAVE A HISTORY
OF PRODUCING STRONG DAMAGING WINDS...HAIL AND DRENCHING
DOWNPOURS.
 
IF YOU ARE OUTDOORS...MOVE TO A PLACE OF SHELTER IF A STORM
APPROACHES.  MOTORISTS SHOULD REMhAIN ALERT FOR REDUCED VISIBILITIES
DURING DOWNPOURS OF RAIN.

&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 16, 2:13 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFLivingston, Ontario62 min
Aug 16, 12:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFCattaraugus62 min
Aug 16, 6:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFJefferson61 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in New York, 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.