Alert archive / New York / Tornado Warnings in 1999
Tornado Warning 1, NWS Albany, NY
NWS Albany, NY issued this tornado warning at Aug 13, 1999, 7:55 PM EDT for Albany County, Schenectady County, New York. It was in force for 45 min. 6 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 13, 1999, 7:55 PM EDT (23:55 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 13, 1999, 8:40 PM EDT
- In force
- 45 min
- Issued by
- NWS Albany, NY
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Albany County, NY, Schenectady County, NY
The radar
The Albany radar (KENX), 14 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:58 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 13, 8:05 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Delanson, NY | |
| Aug 13, 8:30 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Altamont, NY | |
| Aug 13, 8:40 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Colonie, NY | |
| Aug 13, 8:40 PM EDT | Hail 0.75 | Rotterdam, NY | |
| Aug 13, 8:45 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Niskayuna, NY | |
| Aug 13, 8:45 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Guilderland Center, 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 nearest sounding before it
Albany, NY (KALY), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 15 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
- 8 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -170 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 906 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 219 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 227 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KALB 132359 RRA TORALB NYC001-093-140040- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY 755 PM EDT FRI AUG 13 1999 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBANY NY HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... ALBANY COUNTY IN EASTERN NEW YORK SCHENECTADY COUNTY IN EASTERN NEW YORK * UNTIL 840 PM EDT * AT 755 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO JUST SOUTH OF ESPERANCE MOVING EAST ABOUT 25 MILES AN HOUR. * THE POSSIBLE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR... DELANSON AT 800 PM 2 MILES NORTH OF ALTAMONT AT 820 PM IF YOU LIVE IN THIS AREA BE READY TO SEEK SHELTER IN A BASEMENT OR SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST LEVEL...AWAY FROM WINDOWS. $$ |42.727 74.255 |42.717 74.126 |42.707 73.997 |42.697 73.868 |42.688 73.739 CERNIGLIA
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Albany, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Aug 13, 2:25 PM EDT, 5 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 13, 2:25 PM EDT, 5 hours 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY 225 PM EDT FRI 13 1999 .DISC... FINALLY...THE LONG AWAITED RAIN IS MOVING INTO OUR AREA. BUT ALONG WITH IT IS COMING STEAMY HEAT...DEWPTS OVER 70 ARE QUITE WIDESPREAD UPWIND WITH SOME SITES ALONG THE COAST APPROACHING 80. MSAS PLOTS SHOW LI VALUES OF MINUS 5 AND THETAE VALUES APPROACHING 345 IN SOUTHEASTERN NEW YORK. MILKY SUN DID BREAK THROUGH THE CLOUD COVER AND FOR A WHILE WE EVEN SAW BITS OF BLUE SKY. WIDESPREAD SHOWERS OVER WESTERN ADIRONDACKS AND MOHAWK VALLEY CONFIRMED BY SFC OBS AT KUCA AND KSYR. .SHORT TERM... WILL CONTINUE SHOWERS/TSTORMS LIKELY ALL ZONES PER MOS AND PREV PKG. VERY MUGGY WITH DEWPOINTS REMAINING AROUND 70. .MID TERM... FRONT SLOWS DOWN AND CREEPS THRU AREA SAT NITE INTO SUNDAY. LOOKS LIKE MORE TOWARD RAIN RATHER THAN SHWRS SAT NITE AS FRONT APPROACHES AREA...THEN OCCAISIONAL RAIN SUNDAY AS WE GET IN THE BACKLASH BEHIND THE LOW. WILL STAY CLOSE TO MOS BUT WILL HOLD MAX TEMPS IN MID 70S. MOS INDICATES OVC THROUGHT AND AGREE WITH IT. .LONG TERM... NCEP AND MRF BUILD HIGH INTO FCST AREA AS TROF AND ITS ASSOCIATED FNTS AND PRECIP MOVE OUT TO SEA. JUST IN TIME TO GO BACK TO WORK. SORRY BOUT THOSE PICNICS AND COOKOUTS...BUT WE REALLY DO NEED THE RAIN ALY...NONE. KILPATRICK
The office that day
Everything else NWS Albany, NY issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 13, 7:34 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ALY | Montgomery | 56 min |
| Aug 13, 7:45 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ALY | Schoharie | 20 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in New York, 1999Every tornado warning in 1999Tornadoes in 1999
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.