Alert archive / Massachusetts / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

August 20, 2004Worcester County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this tornado warning at Aug 20, 2004, 2:07 PM EDT for Worcester County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 23 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 20, 2004, 2:07 PM EDT (18:07 UTC)
Expired: Aug 20, 2004, 2:30 PM EDT
In force: 23 min
Issued by: NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Worcester County, MA

The radar

The Boston radar (KBOX), 107 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:07 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 20, 1:05 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Albany, NY (KALY), launched 12:00Z, 6.1 hours before the alert went out and 146 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: 244 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -24 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 569 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 77 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 142 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS51 KBOX 201807
TORBOX
MAC027-201830-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
207 PM EDT FRI AUG 20 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTH CENTRAL WORCESTER COUNTY IN CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF FITCHBURG

* UNTIL 230 PM EDT

* AT 203 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO NEAR
  TEMPLETON...OR ABOUT 14 MILES WEST OF FITCHBURG...MOVING EAST AT 20
  MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  GARDNER BY 215 PM EDT
  ASHBURNHAM BY 225 PM EDT
  FITCHBURG BY 230 PM EDT

WHEN A TORNADO WARNING IS ISSUED BASED ON DOPPLER RADAR...IT MEANS
THAT STRONG ROTATION HAS BEEN DETECTED IN THE STORM. A TORNADO MAY
ALREADY BE ON THE GROUND...OR IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP SHORTLY. IF YOU
ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS DANGEROUS STORM...MOVE INDOORS AND TO THE
LOWEST LEVEL OF THE BUILDING. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. IF DRIVING...DO
NOT SEEK SHELTER UNDER A HIGHWAY OVERPASS.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

LAT...LON 4271 7220 4254 7214 4259 7172 4268 7197

$$

BELK

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 20, 1:59 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Worcester	31 min
Aug 20, 2:28 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Middlesex, Worcester	32 min
Aug 20, 2:58 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Middlesex, Worcester	47 min
Aug 20, 3:25 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Essex, Middlesex	50 min
Aug 20, 3:51 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	BOX		84 min
Aug 20, 4:29 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Essex, Middlesex	46 min
Aug 20, 4:33 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Franklin, Hampshire	27 min
Aug 20, 5:27 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	BOX		48 min
Aug 20, 6:03 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Middlesex, Worcester	42 min
Aug 20, 6:41 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Middlesex, Norfolk, Suffolk	49 min
Aug 20, 6:46 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	BOX		89 min
Aug 20, 6:46 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	BOX		89 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Massachusetts, 2004 Every tornado warning in 2004 Tornadoes 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.