Alert archive / Maine / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Caribou, ME

July 28, 1997Piscataquis County, Maine

NWS Caribou, ME issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 28, 1997, 2:27 PM EDT for Piscataquis County, Maine. It was in force for 63 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
Jul 28, 1997, 2:27 PM EDT (18:27 UTC)
Expired
Jul 28, 1997, 3:30 PM EDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Caribou, ME
Area
Whole counties

County Piscataquis County, ME

The radar

The Caribou radar (KCBW), 116 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:30 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Caribou, ME (KCAR), launched 12:00Z, 6.5 hours before the alert went out and 151 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, Caribou, ME at 12:00Z on 1997-07-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 41 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, Caribou, ME at 12:00Z on 1997-07-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 88 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
41 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-86 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
785 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
88 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
110 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCAR 281827 RRA
SVRCAR
MEC021-281930-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CARIBOU ME
227 PM EDT MON JUL 28 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CARIBOU HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  330 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH MAINE
 
   ...NORTH CENTRAL PISCATAQUIS COUNTY
 
AT 225 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM MOVING FROM NORTHERN SOMERSET INTO NORTHERN
PISCATAQUIS COUNTY. THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE EAST/SOUTHEAST AT 35
MPH AND WILL PASS NEAR ALLAGASH LAKE IN THE NEXT 15 MINUTES
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
 
GOUDSWARD
 
NNNN

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 28, 2:04 PM EDT, 23 minutes before
MEZ001-002-003-004-005-006-282000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CARIBOU ME
204 PM EDT MON JUL 28 1997

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FIRING UP OVER NORTHERN MAINE...

AT 2:00 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS INDICATING
THUNDERSTORMS FIRING UP OVER PARTS OF NORTHERN MAINE.  THE MAJORITY OF
THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER NORTHERN AROOSTOOK AND SOMERSET COUNTIES.

THE STRONGEST STORM WAS NOW CROSSING INTO NORTHERN SOMERSET COUNTY FROM
QUEBEC PROVENCE.  THIS STORM WILL PAST JUST TO THE NORTH OF HARDWOOD
MOUNTAIN. OTHER STRONG STORMS WERE LOCATED OVER NORTHERN AROOSTOOK
COUNTY IN THE VICINITY OF ESCOURT STATION.

THESE STORMS WERE PRODUCING TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING
...GUSTY WINDS AND POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL.  THESE STORMS WERE MOVING
EASTWARD.

THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON OVER NORTHERN
MAINE AND SOME OF THEM MAY BE QUITE STRONG.

LOGGERS...CAMPERS AND BOATERS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR THESE STORMS AND BE
PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER SHOULD THEY APPROACH.

STAY TUNED TO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS
FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION

GOUDSWARD

NNNN

The office that day

Everything else NWS Caribou, ME issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 28, 2:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCARSomerset45 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Maine, 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.