Alert archive / New York / Tornado Watches in 2004

Tornado Watch 255

May 22, 200415 counties in New York; 5 counties in Pennsylvania

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 22, 2004, 10:50 PM EDT for 15 counties in New York; 5 counties in Pennsylvania. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 22, 2004, 10:50 PM EDT (02:50 UTC)
Expired: May 23, 2004, 3:00 AM EDT
In force: 4 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Broome County, NY, Chemung County, NY, Chenango County, NY, Cortland County, NY, Delaware County, NY, Madison County, NY, Oneida County, NY, Onondaga County, NY, Otsego County, NY, Schuyler County, NY, Seneca County, NY, Steuben County, NY, Tioga County, NY, Tompkins County, NY, Yates County, NY, Bradford County, PA, Clinton County, PA, Potter County, PA, Susquehanna County, PA, Tioga County, PA

The radar

The Binghamton radar (KBGM), 59 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:52 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.

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 22, 10:57 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BGM	Steuben	48 min
May 22, 11:31 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BGM	Cayuga, Onondaga	29 min
May 23, 12:15 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BGM	Otsego	45 min
May 23, 12:47 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	BGM	Otsego	13 min
May 23, 1:46 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BGM	Delaware	59 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

Buffalo Intl Airport, NY (KBUF), launched 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 178 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: 1116 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -27 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 993 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 216 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 238 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.1
Supercell composite: 3.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 230251
SEL5  
SPC WW 230250
NYZ000-PAZ000-230700-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 255
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1050 PM EDT SAT MAY 22 2004

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 

       CENTRAL NEW YORK
       NORTHERN PENNSYLVANIA

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING FROM 1050 PM
UNTIL 300 AM EDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 50 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 55 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF ELMIRA NEW YORK TO
40 MILES SOUTHEAST OF UTICA NEW YORK.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO
WATCH NUMBER 252. WATCH NUMBER 252 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER
1050 PM EDT. CONTINUE...WW 251...WW 253...WW 254...

DISCUSSION...STRONGLY VEERED SHEAR PROFILES OVER CENTRAL NY COUPLED
WITH THE MDTLY UNSTABLE AIR MASS CONTINUE TO SUPPORT SUPERCELLS. 
ALONG WITH LARGE HAIL/DAMAGING WINDS...ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE
POSSIBLE.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 26035.


...HALES

423,0775 432,0744 420,0744 410,0775

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 22, 8:18 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Cayuga, Chautauqua, Chemung and 13 more	117 min
May 23, 12:04 AM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Madison and 9 more	56 min
May 23, 3:27 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Genesee, Livingston and 4 more	2 hr
May 23, 4:40 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Bronx, Broome, Chemung, Delaware, Dutchess, Kings and 14 more	5 hr
May 23, 6:45 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Allegany, Bronx, Broome, Chemung, Delaware, Dutchess and 16 more	90 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in New York, 2004 Tornado Watches in Pennsylvania, 2004 Every tornado watch 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.