Alert archive / Massachusetts / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 27, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

August 22, 20034 counties in Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 22, 2003, 5:55 PM EDT for 4 counties in Massachusetts. It was in force for 65 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Aug 22, 2003, 5:55 PM EDT (21:55 UTC)
Expired: Aug 22, 2003, 7:00 PM EDT
In force: 65 min
Issued by: NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

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

The radar

The Boston radar (KBOX), 31 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:57 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Aug 22, 1:15 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Chatham, MA (KCHH), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 113 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: 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 
WUUS51 KBOX 222156
SVRBOX
MAC017-021-025-027-222300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
555 PM EDT FRI AUG 22 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHEASTERN WORCESTER COUNTY IN CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS
    INCLUDING MILFORD
  SOUTHEASTERN MIDDLESEX COUNTY IN EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS
    INCLUDING WALTHAM...SOMERVILLE...NEWTON...FRAMINGHAM...CAMBRIDGE
  NORFOLK COUNTY IN EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS
    INCLUDING WEYMOUTH...QUINCY...FRANKLIN...BROOKLINE
  SUFFOLK COUNTY IN EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS
    INCLUDING BOSTON

* UNTIL 700 PM.

* AT 552 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE
  OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM BELMONT TO 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
  SUTTON...OR FROM 4 MILES NORTH OF WALTHAM TO 11 MILES SOUTH OF
  WORCESTER...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE NEAR...
  WESTON...WALTHAM AND BELMONT AROUND 600 PM
  WATERTOWN...UPTON AND NORTHBRIDGE AROUND 605 PM
  WHITINSVILLE...WELLESLEY AND SOMERVILLE AROUND 610 PM
  SHERBORN...NEEDHAM AND MILFORD AROUND 615 PM
  WINTHROP...MENDON AND DOVER AROUND 620 PM.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND/OR WIND STRONG ENOUGH TO
KNOCK DOWN TREES AND POWER LINES. MOVE INDOORS AND STAY AWAY FROM
WINDOWS.

IN ADDITION TO LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND...VERY FREQUENT 
CLOUD-TO-GROUND LIGHTNING IS ALSO LIKELY WITH THIS STORM. GET AWAY FROM 
OPEN FIELDS...BODIES OF WATER...AND TALL OBJECTS.

MINOR URBAN FLOODING IS EXPECTED IN SOME LOCATIONS AS THE THUNDERSTORMS 
MOVE THROUGH THE AREA.

$$

LAT...LON 4224 7081 4220 7093 4206 7124 4213 7188
          4242 7129 4238 7097 4221 7091

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 22, 4:08 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Franklin, Hampshire, Worcester	52 min
Aug 22, 4:59 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Middlesex	46 min
Aug 22, 5:16 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Middlesex, Worcester	44 min
Aug 22, 5:50 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	BOX		115 min
Aug 22, 5:50 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	BOX		115 min
Aug 22, 5:51 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	BOX		22 hr
Aug 22, 5:51 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	BOX		22 hr
Aug 22, 6:30 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	BOX	Middlesex, Norfolk, Suffolk	2 hr
Aug 22, 6:56 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Bristol, Norfolk, Plymouth	49 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Massachusetts, 2003 Every severe thunderstorm 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.