Alert archive / Massachusetts / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 66, NWS Boston/Norton, MA
NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 20, 1998, 12:12 PM EDT for Norfolk County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 48 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
- Jul 20, 1998, 12:12 PM EDT (16:12 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 20, 1998, 1:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 48 min
- Issued by
- NWS Boston/Norton, MA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Norfolk County, MA
The radar
The Boston radar (KBOX), 24 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:13 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 | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 12:30 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Bellingham, MA |
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
Chatham, MA (KCHH), launched 12:00Z, 4.2 hours before the alert went out and 115 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 3 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -203 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1440 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 117 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 129 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
737 WUUS1 KBOS 201611 RRA SVRBOS MAC021-201700- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA 1212 PM EDT MON JUL 20 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... NORFOLK COUNTY IN EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS * UNTIL 100 PM EDT * AT 1210 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR BELLINGHAM...MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. * TOWNS IN/NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE... FRANKLIN AT 1215 PM WALPOLE AT 1220 PM SHARON AT 1225 PM LARGE HAIL WAS INDICATED WITH THIS STORM. GAF/JN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND/OR WINDS STRONG ENOUGH TO KNOCK DOWN TREES AND POWER LINES. MOVE INDOORS AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
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 20, 11:38 AM EDT, 34 minutes before
MAZ002>019-CTZ002>004-RIZ001>006-202300- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOSTON MA 1138 AM EDT MON JUL 20 1998 ...ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH DAMAGING WIND AND LARGE HAIL ARE EXPECTED IN THE REGION FROM NEAR BOSTON TO WILLIMANTIC AND HARTFORD CONNECTICUT NORTHWARD TO WORCESTER AND NASHUA NEW HAMPSHIRE THIS AFTERNOON... THUNDERSTORMS HAVE ALREADY PRODUCED ONE-HALF INCH DIAMETER HAIL IN NORTH CENTRAL CONNECTICUT. THESE STORMS ARE LIKELY TO BECOME EVEN STRONGER BETWEEN NOON AND 4 PM...ESPECIALLY FROM NORTHEAST CONNECTICUT INTO CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS. IN ADDITION TO THE THREAT FOR LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS...BRIEF STREET FLOODING FROM TORRENTIAL RAINS WILL OCCUR IN A FEW LOCATIONS FROM NEAR WORCESTER INTO THE BOSTON METRO AREA. MARINE INTERESTS IN THE EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS COASTAL WATERS FROM MARSHFIELD TO BOSTON HARBOR NORTH TO THE MOUTH OF THE MERRIMACK RIVER SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF SUDDEN STRONG WIND GUSTS OVER 35 KNOTS NEAR 1 OR 2 STORMS THIS AFTERNOON. ELSEWHERE...IF THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP AGAIN IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS DURING MID OR LATE AFTERNOON INTO THE MONADNOCKS...A FEW OF THOSE WOULD LIKELY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND YOUR LOCAL MEDIA FOR ANY ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS...WATCHES AND WARNINGS. DRAG
The office that day
Everything else NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 1:09 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Plymouth | 46 min |
| Jul 20, 1:27 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Barnstable | 33 min |
| Jul 20, 4:17 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Hampden, Hampshire | 48 min |
| Jul 20, 5:21 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Hampden | 44 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Massachusetts, 1998Every severe thunderstorm 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.