Alert archive / Maine / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 9, NWS Gray, ME

June 12, 1997Cumberland County, Maine

NWS Gray, ME issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 12, 1997, 2:46 PM EDT for Cumberland County, Maine. It was in force for 44 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
Jun 12, 1997, 2:46 PM EDT (18:46 UTC)
Expired
Jun 12, 1997, 3:30 PM EDT
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Gray, ME
Area
Whole counties

County Cumberland County, ME

The radar

The Portland,ME radar (KGYX), 11 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:49 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
Jun 12, 3:15 PM EDTHail 0.75Bridgton, ME

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 nearest sounding before it

Gray, ME (KGYX), launched 12:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 11 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, Gray, ME at 12:00Z on 1997-06-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 29 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, Gray, ME at 12:00Z on 1997-06-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 33 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
29 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-285 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1603 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
33 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
78 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KPWM 121846 RRA
SVRPWM
MEC005-121930-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY ME
246 PM EDT THU JUN 12 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GRAY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  330 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS......
 
IN  MAINE
 
   ...NORTHERN CUMBERLAND COUNTY
 
DOPPLER RADAR AND SURFACE REPORTS INDICATE LARGE HAIL WITH A
THUNDERSTORM CROSSING INTO MAINE FROM NEW HAMPSHIRE. THE STORM WILL
CROSS FROM SOUTHERN OXFORD COUNTY INTO NORTHERN CUMBERLAND COUNTY
DURING THE NEXT 45 MINUTES. THE STORM IS MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH.
 
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.
 
 
HJL/GW

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

Local storm report, Jun 12, 11:42 AM EDT, 3 hours 4 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY MAINE
1143 AM EDT THU JUN 12 1997

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1005 AM    BANGOR INTL ARPT          ME   .25 INCH HAIL
06/12/97   PENOBSCOT

1020 AM    BANGOR                    ME   1 INCH HAIL
06/12/97   PENOBSCOT

1055 AM    BANGOR                 &   ME   .75 INCH HAIL
06/12/97   PENOBSCOT

1118 AM    POLAND                    ME   .25 INCH HAIL
06/12/97   ANDROSCOGGIN
Local storm report, Jun 12, 11:43 AM EDT, 3 hours 3 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAY MAINE
1143 AM EDT THU JUN 12 1997

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1005 AM    BANGOR INTL ARPT          ME   .25 INCH HAIL
06/12/97   PENOBSCOT

1020 AM    BANGOR                    ME   1 INCH HAIL
06/12/97   PENOBSCOT

1055 AM    BANGOR                    ME   .75 INCH HAIL
06/12/97   PENOBSCOT

1118 AM    POLAND                    ME   .25 INCH HAIL
06/12/97   ANDROSCOGGIN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 12, 10:26 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGYXPenobscot34 min
Jun 12, 2:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGYXOxford40 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.