Alert archive / Massachusetts / Flash Flood Warnings in 2004

Flash Flood Warning 5, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

September 18, 2004Hampden County, Hampshire County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this flash flood warning at Sep 18, 2004, 12:02 PM EDT for Hampden County, Hampshire County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 6 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Sep 18, 2004, 12:02 PM EDT (16:02 UTC)
Expired
Sep 18, 2004, 6:00 PM EDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Hampden County, MA, Hampshire County, MA

The radar

The Boston radar (KBOX), 125 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:04 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

Brookhaven, NY (KOKX), launched 12:00Z, 4.0 hours before the alert went out and 149 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, Brookhaven, NY at 12:00Z on 2004-09-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1385 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, Brookhaven, NY at 12:00Z on 2004-09-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 226 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1385 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
550 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
226 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
206 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.3
Supercell composite
5.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
WGUS51 KBOX 181603
FFWBOX
MAC013-015-182200-
/0..000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
1202 PM EDT SAT SEP 18 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  HAMPDEN COUNTY IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF...SPRINGFIELD...CHICOPEE
  EASTERN HAMPSHIRE COUNTY IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF...NORTHAMPTON...AMHERST

* UNTIL 600 PM EDT

* AT NOON EDT...HEAVY RAINFALL OF 4 TO 5 INCHES HAS BEEN REPORTED
  ACROSS MUCH OF HAMPDEN COUNTY...AND RADAR INDICATES THAT NEARLY
  4 INCHES HAS FALLEN ACROSS PORTIONS OF HAMPSHIRE COUNTY.  THIS 
  IS LIKELY ENOUGH RAINFALL TO PRODUCE FLASH FLOODING OF SMALL
  STREAMS.

* OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO
  WILLIAMSBURG...WILBRAHAM...WESTHAMPTON...WEST SPRINGFIELD...
  WALES...SOUTHAMPTON...SOUTH HADLEY...PALMER...MONTGOMERY...
  MONSON...LUDLOW...HOLYOKE...HATFIELD...HAMPDEN...HADLEY...
  GRANVILLE...GRANBY...EASTHAMPTON...EAST LONGMEADOW...BELCHERTOWN
  AND AGAWAM.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT. IT IS
IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHERE YOU ARE RELATIVE TO RIVERS AND STREAMS. EVEN
THE SMALLEST STREAMS CAN BECOME KILLERS IN TORRENTIAL RAINS.

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.

LAT...LON 4206 7288 4205 7216 4238 7240 4242 7278

$$

THOMPSON
1 follow-up statement
000 
WGUS71 KBOX 181745
FFSBOX
MAC013-015-182200-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
141 PM EDT SAT SEP 18 2004

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR CONTINUES UNTIL 600 PM EDT FOR HAMPDEN
AND EASTERN HAMPSHIRE COUNTIES...

AT 141 PM EDT...

THE RAIN HAD COME TO AN END OVER HAMPSHIRE AND HAMPDEN COUNTIES AT 
140 PM. HOWEVER SMALL RIVERS AND STREAMS WILL CONTINUE TO RISE AS 
RUNOFF FROM THE HEAVY RAINS CONTINUES. AT 1 PM THE WEST BRANCH OF 
THE FARMINGTON RIVER IN NEW BOSTON WAS JUST A HALF A FOOT BELOW 
FLOOD STAGE AND WILL LIKELY EXCEED FLOOD STAGE BETWEEN 2 AND 230 PM.

LAT...LON 4206 7288 4205 7216 4238 7240 4242 7278

$$
AED

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 18, 11:00 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningBOXFranklin6 hr
Sep 18, 11:50 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningBOXWorcester6 hr
Sep 18, 12:24 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningBOX81 min
Sep 18, 12:24 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningBOX81 min
Sep 18, 12:24 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningBOX81 min
Sep 18, 12:24 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningBOX81 min
Sep 18, 2:06 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningBOX84 min
Sep 18, 2:06 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningBOX84 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Massachusetts, 2004Every flash flood warning in 2004

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.