Alert archive / Maine / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Caribou, ME

July 4, 2002Aroostook County, Maine

NWS Caribou, ME issued this tornado warning at Jul 4, 2002, 3:38 PM EDT for Aroostook County, Maine. It was in force for 52 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 4, 2002, 3:38 PM EDT (19:38 UTC)
Expired: Jul 4, 2002, 4:30 PM EDT
In force: 52 min
Issued by: NWS Caribou, ME
Area: Whole counties

County Aroostook County, ME

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jul 4, 4:00 PM EDT	Tornado F1	Littleton, ME	The tornado originated near Number Seven Ridge and tracked southeast around a mile before dissipating. The tornado remained in wooded areas during the entire track causing extensive tree damage.

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
Jul 4, 12:00 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Caribou, ME (KCAR), launched 12:00Z, 7.6 hours before the alert went out and 51 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: 363 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -231 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 939 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 52 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 109 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 5.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

520 
WFUS51 KCAR 041938
TORCAR
MEC003-042030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CARIBOU ME
337 PM EDT THU JUL 4 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CENTRAL AROOSTOOK COUNTY IN NORTHERN MAINE
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF PORTAGE

* UNTIL 430 PM EDT

* AT 335 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED   
  A DEVELOPING TORNADO NEAR PORTAGE LAKE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15    
  MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  WASHBURN...PERHAM BY 410 PM EDT
  WOODLAND BY 420 PM EDT
  ASHLAND BY 425 PM EDT

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 600 PM EDT THIS EVENING
FOR MAINE.

$$

HEWITT
NNNN

The office that day

Everything else NWS Caribou, ME issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 3, 8:22 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	CAR	Penobscot	38 min
Jul 3, 8:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAR	Hancock	60 min
Jul 3, 9:09 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAR	Washington	51 min
Jul 3, 10:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAR	Hancock, Washington	60 min
Jul 3, 10:23 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	CAR		97 min
Jul 3, 11:31 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAR	Aroostook	89 min
Jul 4, 1:02 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAR	Aroostook	43 min
Jul 4, 1:52 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAR	Aroostook	38 min
Jul 4, 9:51 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAR	Aroostook	39 min
Jul 4, 11:08 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAR	Aroostook	52 min
Jul 4, 11:59 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAR	Aroostook, Penobscot, Piscataquis	61 min
Jul 4, 12:10 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	CAR	Aroostook	50 min
Jul 4, 12:38 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	CAR	Aroostook	22 min
Jul 4, 12:58 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAR	Aroostook	32 min
Jul 4, 1:32 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAR	Aroostook	58 min
Jul 4, 3:18 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAR	Aroostook, Piscataquis	57 min
Jul 4, 4:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAR	Aroostook	45 min
Jul 4, 5:13 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAR	Penobscot	47 min
Jul 4, 5:32 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAR	Washington	43 min
Jul 4, 6:05 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAR	Penobscot	25 min
Jul 4, 6:17 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAR	Hancock	58 min
Jul 4, 6:25 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAR	Washington	65 min
Jul 4, 7:29 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAR	Washington	61 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Maine, 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.