Alert archive / New York / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Albany, NY

August 13, 1999Rensselaer County, New York

NWS Albany, NY issued this tornado warning at Aug 13, 1999, 9:15 PM EDT for Rensselaer County, New York. It was in force for 45 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
Aug 13, 1999, 9:15 PM EDT (01:15 UTC)
Expired
Aug 13, 1999, 10:00 PM EDT
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Albany, NY
Area
Whole counties

County Rensselaer County, NY

The radar

The Albany radar (KENX), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:16 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
Aug 13, 9:15 PM EDTThunderstorm WindBrunswick, 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 00:00Z, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 26 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, Albany, NY at 00:00Z on 1999-08-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1901 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, Albany, NY at 00:00Z on 1999-08-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 258 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1901 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
741 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
258 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
341 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
3.0
Supercell composite
15.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KALB 140114 RRA
TORALB
NYC083-140200-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
915 PM EDT FRI AUG 13 1999
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ALBANY NY HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  RENSSELAER  COUNTY IN EASTERN NEW YORK

* UNTIL 1000 PM EDT

* AT  915 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  POSSIBLE TORNADO ABOUT 5 MILES EAST OF TROY MOVING 
  EAST ABOUT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

* THE POSSIBLE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  5 MILES NORTH OF POESTENKILL AT  920 PM
  GRAFTON AT  935 PM
  5 MILES NORTH OF BERLIN AT  945 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 WINDOWS2.

$$
|42.754  73.599 |42.754  73.486 |42.754  73.373 |42.754  73.260
|42.754  73.148
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, 9:11 PM EDT, 4 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 13, 9:11 PM EDT, 4 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY
913 PM EDT FRI 13 1999

.DISC...A VRY BUSY NIGHT AS SVR WX ACRS CAP DSTRCT.

.SHORT TERM...A VRY STG SUPERCELL MOVG JST N OF ALBANY AT MOMENT.
EXTREMELY JUICY AIRMASS WITH TDS IN 70S. 00Z KALY SNDG VRY IMPRESSIVE
WITH CAPES ARND 1500 J/KG...HELICITY 323...SWEAT INDEX OF 382. SO FAR
RPTS OF 50 KT WNDS AT KALB AND QUARTER SIZE HAIL JST N OF TROY. WL
ADD HEIGHTENED WRDG TO FCST...WITH MTN OF STG GUSTY WNDS...HAIL AND
TORRENTIAL DWONPOURS.

.LONG TERM...NO CHNGS TO PRVS FCST.

ALY...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL MIDNIGHT ULSTER AND DUTCHESS
COUNTIES.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Albany, NY issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 13, 8:35 PM EDTTornado WarningALYAlbany, Rensselaer40 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.