Alert archive / Maine / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 861

August 16, 200314 counties in Maine

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Aug 16, 2003, 10:50 AM EDT for 14 counties in Maine. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 16, 2003, 10:50 AM EDT (14:50 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 2003, 5:00 PM EDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Androscoggin County, ME, Aroostook County, ME, Cumberland County, ME, Hancock County, ME, Kennebec County, ME, Knox County, ME, Lincoln County, ME, Penobscot County, ME, Piscataquis County, ME, Sagadahoc County, ME, Somerset County, ME, Waldo County, ME, Washington County, ME, York County, ME

The radar

The Portland,ME radar (KGYX), 131 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:53 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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 16, 1:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCARAroostook48 min
Aug 16, 3:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGYXAndroscoggin37 min
Aug 16, 4:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGYXYork60 min
Aug 16, 4:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGYXKennebec, Sagadahoc35 min
Aug 16, 4:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGYXCumberland40 min
Aug 16, 4:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGYXLincoln, Sagadahoc35 min
Aug 16, 4:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGYXKnox35 min

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Gray, ME (KGYX), launched 12:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 131 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, Gray, ME at 12:00Z on 2003-08-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 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, Gray, ME at 12:00Z on 2003-08-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 35 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1410 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
35 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
94 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 16, 10:09 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAroostook, Franklin, Kennebec, Oxford, Penobscot, Piscataquis and 1 more2 hr
Aug 16, 4:29 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAndroscoggin, Aroostook, Cumberland, Hancock, Kennebec, Knox and 8 more61 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Maine, 2003Every severe thunderstorm watch 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.