Alert archive / New York / Tornado Watches in 2002

Tornado Watch 169

April 28, 20029 counties in New York

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 28, 2002, 2:00 PM EDT for 9 counties in New York. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Apr 28, 2002, 2:00 PM EDT (18:00 UTC)
Expired: Apr 28, 2002, 7:00 PM EDT
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Allegany County, NY, Cattaraugus County, NY, Erie County, NY, Genesee County, NY, Livingston County, NY, Ontario County, NY, Steuben County, NY, Wyoming County, NY, Yates County, NY

The radar

The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 45 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:59 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.

Warnings issued inside it

12 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
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	Tornado Warning	BUF	Erie	32 min
Apr 28, 2:49 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BUF	Cattaraugus	26 min
Apr 28, 3:00 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	BUF	Erie, Wyoming	30 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
Apr 28, 4:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BGM	Steuben	64 min
Apr 28, 4:33 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BGM	Seneca, Yates	57 min

The nearest sounding before it

Buffalo Intl Airport, NY (KBUF), launched 12:00Z, 6.0 hours before the alert went out and 41 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.

000
WWUS20 KWNS 281753
SEL9  
SPC WW 281747
NYZ000-LEZ000-282300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 169
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
147 PM EDT SUN APR 28 2002

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   WESTERN NEW YORK                           
   LAKE ERIE                          

EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 200 PM UNTIL 700
PM EDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 40 STATUTE MILES EITHER SIDE OF
A LINE FROM 30 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BUFFALO NEW YORK TO 50 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF ROCHESTER NEW YORK.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 166...WW 167...WW 168...

DISCUSSION...AS SURFACE LOW MOVES EWD TOWARD WRN NY...SEVERE STORMS
WILL MOVE/DEVELOP INTO THE AREA. WARM FRONT IS LOCATED ACROSS THE 
WRN NY AND WITH STRONG LOW/DEEP LAYERED SHEAR...SUPERCELLS WITH
LARGE HAIL AND A FEW TORNADOES APPEARS LIKELY.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24045.

...IMY

431,0791 431,0765 420,0765 420,0790

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 28, 5:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster	5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in New York, 2002 Every tornado watch 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.