Alert archive / Massachusetts / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 16, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

August 22, 2003Middlesex County, Norfolk County, Suffolk County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this flash flood warning at Aug 22, 2003, 6:30 PM EDT for Middlesex County, Norfolk County, Suffolk County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 2 hr. 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 22, 2003, 6:30 PM EDT (22:30 UTC)
Expired
Aug 22, 2003, 8:30 PM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Middlesex County, MA, Norfolk County, MA, Suffolk County, MA

The radar

The Boston radar (KBOX), 43 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:30 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 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 127 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 12:00Z on 2003-08-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 629 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 12:00Z on 2003-08-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 37 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
629 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-158 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
909 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
37 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
5 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 222231
FFWBOX
MAC017-021-025-230030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
630 PM EDT FRI AUG 22 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHEAST MIDDLESEX COUNTY IN EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS
    INCLUDING SOMERVILLE...NEWTON...CAMBRIDGE
  NORFOLK COUNTY IN EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS
    INCLUDING QUINCY...BROOKLINE
  SUFFOLK COUNTY IN EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS
    INCLUDING BOSTON

* UNTIL 830 PM EDT.

* AT 627 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED   
THUNDERSTORMS WITH TORRENTIAL RAINFALL EXTENDING ACROSS SOUTHEAST 
MIDDLESEX COUTY...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. URBAN FLASH FLOODING IS LIKELY 
AS THE STORMS MOVE THROUGH THE AREA. 

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

$$

LAT...LON 4220 7082 4220 7095 4223 7124 4242 7123
          4244 7097 4226 7094 4223 7087 4225 7079
          4222 7077

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 22, 4:08 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXFranklin, Hampshire, Worcester52 min
Aug 22, 4:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXMiddlesex46 min
Aug 22, 5:16 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXMiddlesex, Worcester44 min
Aug 22, 5:50 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningBOX115 min
Aug 22, 5:50 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningBOX115 min
Aug 22, 5:51 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningBOX22 hr
Aug 22, 5:51 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningBOX22 hr
Aug 22, 5:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXMiddlesex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Worcester65 min
Aug 22, 6:56 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXBristol, Norfolk, Plymouth49 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.