Alert archive / New York / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Buffalo, NY

April 28, 2002Erie County, Wyoming County, New York

NWS Buffalo, NY issued this tornado warning at Apr 28, 2002, 3:00 PM EDT for Erie County, Wyoming County, New York. It was in force for 30 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Apr 28, 2002, 3:00 PM EDT (19:00 UTC)
Expired: Apr 28, 2002, 3:30 PM EDT
In force: 30 min
Issued by: NWS Buffalo, NY
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Erie County, NY, Wyoming County, NY

The radar

The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 43 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:04 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
Apr 28, 3:15 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50 E	Chaffee, NY
Apr 28, 3:29 PM EDT	Hail 0.88	Warsaw, 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Apr 28, 2:00 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Buffalo Intl Airport, NY (KBUF), launched 12:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 39 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 419 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 686 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 744 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

769 
WFUS51 KBUF 281900
TORBUF
NYC029-121-281930-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BUFFALO NY
259 PM EDT SUN APR 28 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BUFFALO HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WYOMING COUNTY IN WESTERN NEW YORK

* UNTIL 330 PM EDT

* AT 255 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED   
  A TORNADO OVER CHAFFEE IN SOUTHERN ERIE COUNTY...MOVING EAST AT 40 
  MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE...
  OVER JAVA CENTER AT 305 PM EDT
  5 MILES SOUTH OF VARYSBURG AT 310 PM EDT
  OVER WARSAW AT 325 PM EDT

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 700 PM EDT SUNDAY EVENING FOR
WESTERN NEW YORK.

LAT...LON 4267 7861 4251 7853 4260 7804 4287 7813

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 28, 12:54 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	BUF		36 min
Apr 28, 1:27 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	BUF		33 min
Apr 28, 2:05 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	BUF		55 min
Apr 28, 2:34 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BUF	Cattaraugus, Chautauqua	26 min
Apr 28, 2:40 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BUF	Erie	35 min
Apr 28, 2:43 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BUF	Chautauqua	32 min
Apr 28, 2:43 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	BUF	Erie	32 min
Apr 28, 2:49 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BUF	Cattaraugus	26 min
Apr 28, 3:12 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BUF	Cattaraugus	48 min
Apr 28, 3:29 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BUF	Allegany	31 min
Apr 28, 3:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BUF	Wyoming	30 min
Apr 28, 3:38 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BUF	Livingston	37 min
Apr 28, 3:48 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	BUF	Allegany	42 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in New York, 2002 Every tornado warning in 2002 Tornadoes in 2002

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.