Alert archive / Massachusetts / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 15, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

August 16, 2003Plymouth County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this flash flood warning at Aug 16, 2003, 9:25 PM EDT for Plymouth County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 110 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 16, 2003, 9:25 PM EDT (01:25 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 2003, 11:15 PM EDT
In force
110 min
Issued by
NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area
Whole counties

County Plymouth County, MA

The radar

The Boston radar (KBOX), 33 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:28 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Chatham, MA (KCHH), launched 00:00Z, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 73 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, Chatham, MA at 00:00Z on 2003-08-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 942 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Chatham, MA at 00:00Z on 2003-08-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 50 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
942 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-81 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1162 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
50 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
50 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 
WGUS51 KBOX 170124
FFWBOX
MAC023-170315-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
925 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN PLYMOUTH COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS

* UNTIL 1115 PM EDT.

* AT 918 PM EDT...THUNDERSTORMS HAD DUMPED OVER 2.5 INCHES OF RAIN
  IN THE MARSHFIELD PEMBROKE HANOVER AREA THIS EVENING.  
  THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY TO CONTINUE FOR AT LEAST ANOTHER HOUR. 
  RAINFALL BY 11 PM TONIGHT MAY BE CLOSE TO 5 INCHES IN A FEW 
  SPOTS NEAR MARSHFIELD.  THIS WILL CAUSE POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS
  FLASH FLOODING.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR OCCURRING.
IF YOU ARE IN THE WARNING AREA MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY.

PEOPLE THAT MAY BE CAMPING OR HIKING IN THE WARNING AREA MUST HEAD
FOR A STURDY SHELTER NOW. BE SURE TO STAY AWAY FROM STREAMS AND LOW
WATER AREAS.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLASH FLOODS. NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOODED ROADWAY. THE
ROAD COULD BE DAMAGED OR WASHED OUT.

MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. NEVER ATTEMPT TO CROSS
BRIDGES OR ROADS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. IT ONLY TAKES A FOOT
OR TWO OF WATER TO WASH MOST CARS AWAY.

FLASH FLOODING OF POOR DRAINAGE AREAS IS LIKELY DUE TO THE TORRENTIAL
RAINFALL. CULVERTS ALONG ROADSIDES MAY BE WASHED OUT. STANDING WATER
ON ROADWAYS AND ESPECIALLY UNDERPASSES MAY RISE TO SEVERAL FEET IN
DEPTH SUBMERGING MOST VEHICLES.

$$

LAT...LON 4209 7094 4200 7091 4201 7062 4218 7065
1 follow-up statement
000 
WGUS71 KBOX 170156
FFSBOX
MAC023-170245-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
945 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 2003

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES IN EFFECT THROUGH 1115 PM 
FOR THE MARSHFIELD AREA OF NORTHERN PLYMOUTH COUNTY...

POLICE AT 935 PM REPORTED FOUR TREES DOWN AS WELL AS DOWNED WIRES 
AND FLOODING HIGHWAYS IN THE MARSHFIELD AREA. A RETIRED NATIONAL 
WEATHER FORECASTER OBSERVED OVER TWO AND ONE HALF INCHES OF RAIN  
THIS EVENING AS WELL AS HALF INCH DIAMETER HAIL JUST BEFORE 915 PM.  

RADAR ESTIMATES THAT OVER 4 INCHES MAY HAVE ALREADY FALLEN IN THE 
MARSHFIELD AREA THIS EVENING.

AT 950 PM...THERE HAS BEEN A SLIGHT SOUTHWARD DRIFT TO THE EXCESSIVE 
RAINS WHICH WOULD FAVOR THE HEAVIEST AXIS OF RAINFALL BETWEEN 10 AND 
11 PM TO OCCUR FROM MARSHFIELDS SOUTHERN LIMITS TO PLYMPTON AND 
KINGSTON. 

THIS POTENT SITUATION HAS BEEN SET UP ALONG THE BOUNDARY BETWEEN A 
SLIGHTLY COOLER NORTHEAST FLOW NORTH OF MARSHFIELD AND A VERY WET 
SOUTHWEST FLOW ALONG THE SOUTH COAST.

PEOPLE THAT MAY BE CAMPING OR HIKING IN THE WARNING AREA MUST BE 
SURE TO STAY AWAY FROM STREAMS AND LOW WATER AREAS.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLASH FLOODS. NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOODED ROADWAY. THE
ROAD COULD BE DAMAGED OR WASHED OUT.

FLASH FLOODING OF POOR DRAINAGE AREAS WILL OCCUR DUE TO THE 
TORRENTIAL RAINFALL. CULVERTS ALONG ROADSIDES MAY BE WASHED OUT. 
STANDING WATER ON ROADWAYS AND ESPECIALLY UNDERPASSES MAY RISE TO 
SEVERAL FEET IN DEPTH SUBMERGING MOST VEHICLES.

MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES. NEVER ATTEMPT TO CROSS
BRIDGES OR ROADS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY. IT ONLY TAKES A FOOT
OR TWO OF WATER TO WASH MOST CARS AWAY.

$$

DRAG

The office that day

Everything else NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 16, 8:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXPlymouth20 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Massachusetts, 2003Every flash flood warning in 2003

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.