Alert archive / Connecticut / Tornado Watches in 2007

Tornado Watch 277

May 16, 20075 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 16, 2007, 12:32 PM EDT for 5 states. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 16, 2007, 12:32 PM EDT (16:32 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 2007, 6:14 PM EDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 23 counties

Capitol Planning Region, CT, Greater Bridgeport Planning Region, CT, Lower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, CT, Naugatuck Valley Planning Region, CT, Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region, CT, Northwest Hills Planning Region, CT, Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region, CT, Berkshire County, MA, Franklin County, MA, Hampden County, MA, Hampshire County, MA, Worcester County, MA, Cheshire County, NH, Columbia County, NY, Dutchess County, NY, Orange County, NY, Putnam County, NY, Rockland County, NY, Ulster County, NY, Westchester County, NY, Kent County, RI, Providence County, RI, Washington County, RI

The radar

The Albany radar (KENX), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:35 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.

What SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes
40%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
40%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
40%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
80%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 12:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXMiddlesex, Worcester41 min
May 16, 2:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXWorcester66 min
May 16, 2:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOKXRockland32 min
May 16, 3:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOKXRockland, Westchester35 min
May 16, 3:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningALYNorthwest Hills Planning Region46 min
May 16, 3:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOKXGreater Bridgeport Planning Region23 min
May 16, 4:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningALYNorthwest Hills Planning Region26 min
May 16, 4:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOKXLower Connecticut River Valley Planning Region, Naugatuck Valley Planning Region46 min
May 16, 4:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOKXGreater Bridgeport Planning Region11 min
May 16, 4:54 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXCapitol Planning Region, Northeastern Connecticut Planning Region53 min
May 16, 4:56 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXWorcester34 min
May 16, 5:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOKXSoutheastern Connecticut Planning Region30 min
May 16, 5:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBOXProvidence41 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

Albany, NY (KALY), launched 12:00Z, 4.5 hours before the alert went out and 83 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, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 2007-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 210 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, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 2007-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 183 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
210 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-80 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
969 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
183 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
193 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000
WWUS20 KWNS 161632
SEL7  
SPC WW 161632
CTZ000-MAZ000-NHZ000-NYZ000-RIZ000-162200-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 277
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1230 PM EDT WED MAY 16 2007

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

       CONNECTICUT
       WESTERN AND CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS
       FAR SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE
       FAR SOUTHERN NEW YORK
       NORTHERN RHODE ISLAND

EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 1230 PM UNTIL
600 PM EDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 45 STATUTE
MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES WEST OF
POUGHKEEPSIE NEW YORK TO 20 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF WORCESTER
MASSACHUSETTS.  FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU7).

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.

DISCUSSION...SEVERE THREAT IS INCREASING WITHIN THIS SMALL AREA
EARLY THIS AFTERNOON...WHERE STRONG HEATING AND MODEST INSTABILITY
IS ALREADY OCCURRING.  IF STORMS CAN REMAIN DISCRETE...SHEAR VALUES
ARE MORE THAN ADEQUATE FOR SUPERCELLS AND POSSIBLY
TORNADOES...ESPECIALLY INTO MA/NRN CT.  IN ADDITION...DAMAGING WINDS
AND ISOLATED LARGE HAIL SHOULD ACCOMPANY THE STRONGER STORMS.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 26035.


...EVANS

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 11:57 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPC93 min
May 16, 2:43 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPC92 min
May 16, 12:56 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBergen, Essex, Hunterdon, Morris, Passaic, Somerset and 2 more64 min
May 16, 1:26 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAtlantic, Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland and 15 more7 hr
May 16, 3:46 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtlantic, Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland and 15 more89 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Connecticut, 2007Tornado Watches in New York, 2007Tornado Watches in Massachusetts, 2007Every tornado watch in 2007

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.