Alert archive / Massachusetts / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 9, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

August 12, 2003Hampden County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this flash flood warning at Aug 12, 2003, 3:48 PM EDT for Hampden County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 3 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 12, 2003, 3:48 PM EDT (19:48 UTC)
Expired
Aug 12, 2003, 6:45 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area
Whole counties

County Hampden County, MA

The radar

The Boston radar (KBOX), 125 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:52 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

Albany, NY (KALY), launched 12:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 116 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, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 2003-08-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 572 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 2003-08-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 6 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
572 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
491 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
32 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 121950
FFWBOX
MAC013-122245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
348 PM EDT TUE AUG 12 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  NORTHWESTERN HAMPDEN COUNTY IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS

* UNTIL 645 PM EDT.

* AT 346 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED   
THUNDERSTORMS WITH TORRENTIAL RAINFALL OVER RUSSELL...MONTGOMERY AND 
BLANDFORD IN NORTHWESTERN HAMPDEN COUNTY.  THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE
NEARLY STATIONARY.

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

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 7307 4205 7294 4220 7283 4234 7296

STRAUSS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 12, 6:27 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningBOXWorcester3 hr

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.