Alert archive / Massachusetts / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 45, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

June 16, 1998Essex County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this flash flood warning at Jun 16, 1998, 10:25 AM EDT for Essex County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 35 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
Jun 16, 1998, 10:25 AM EDT (14:25 UTC)
Expired
Jun 16, 1998, 11:00 AM EDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area
Whole counties

County Essex County, MA

The radar

The Boston radar (KBOX), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:28 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

Chatham, MA (KCHH), launched 12:00Z, 2.4 hours before the alert went out and 131 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 1998-06-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 397 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Chatham, MA at 12:00Z on 1998-06-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 29 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
397 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-65 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
469 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
29 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
84 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBOS 161426
FFWBOS
MAC005-009-017-021-025-171500-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
1025 AM EDT TUE JUN 16 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS EXTENDED A

* FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  MIDDLESEX COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS
  ESSEX COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS
  SUFFOLK COUNTY IN EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS
  NORFOLK COUNTY IN EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS
  NORTHERN BRISTOL COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS 

* UNTIL 11 AM EDT WEDNESDAY MORNING

* WIDESPREAD RIVER AND STREAM FLOODING CONTINUES ACROSS MUCH OF EASTERN
  MASSACHUSETTS.  THE LATEST AREA OF HEAVY SHOWERS WILL EXIT ESSEX COUNTY
  BY 11 AM.  OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WITH TORRENTIAL RAINS MAY AFFECT THESE
  COUNTIES LATER TODAY THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS WITH LOCALIZED RAINFALL
  OF 1 TO 2 INCHES POSSIBLE.    

* ANY ADDITIONAL RAINFALL WILL AT THE VERY LEAST KEEP RIVERS AND STREAMS
  AT THEIR CURRENT ELEVATIONS.  SEVERAL STREAMS THAT HAVE YET TO 
  CREST INCLUDE THE WADING RIVER IN NORTON - THE SHAWSHEEN IN TEWKSBURY
  - THE IPSWICH RIVER IN TOPSFIELD /IPSWICH - AND THE SPICKET 
  RIVER IN METHUEN/LAWRENCE.

* RIVERS THAT WERE IN THE PROCESS OF CRESTING INCLUDED THE LOWER 
  CHARLES THROUGH WALTHAM - AND THE THREE AND TEN MILE RIVERS 
  THROUGH ATTLEBORO.

* ROAD CLOSURES WILL CONTINUE IN SOME LOCATIONS.  FOLLOW LOCAL DETOURS
  THAT ARE IN PLACE AND PLAN AHEAD FOR A SLOW RIDE. 

STAY AWAY FROM FLOODED RIVERS AND STREAMS AND FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS 
FROM LOCAL POLICE OR FIRE OFFICIALS WHERE ROADS HAVE BEEN CLOSED OR 
EVACUATIONS HAVE BEEN REQUESTED. 

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS FOR THE 
LATEST INFORMATION ON THIS WIDESPREAD FLOOD EVENT.

VALLEE/BABCOCK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 15, 10:32 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningBOXBristol, Plymouth7 hr
Jun 16, 5:56 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXHampshire64 min
Jun 16, 10:19 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningBOXBristol, Middlesex, Norfolk, Suffolk41 min
Jun 16, 10:19 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningBOXEssex41 min
Jun 16, 10:25 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningBOXBristol, Middlesex, Norfolk, Suffolk35 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Massachusetts, 1998Every flash flood warning in 1998

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.