Alert archive / Massachusetts / Red Flag Warnings in 2008

Red Flag Warning 2, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

May 13, 20085 counties in Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this red flag warning at May 13, 2008, 11:16 AM EDT for 5 counties in Massachusetts. It took effect at May 13, 2008, 12:00 PM EDT. It was in force for 5 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 13, 2008, 11:16 AM EDT (15:16 UTC)
In effect from
May 13, 2008, 12:00 PM EDT
Expired
May 13, 2008, 5:00 PM EDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
NWS Boston/Norton, MA

Counties Franklin County, MA, Hampden County, MA, Hampshire County, MA, Middlesex County, MA, Worcester County, MA

The radar

The Boston radar (KBOX), 102 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:21 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

Albany, NY (KALY), launched 12:00Z, 3.3 hours before the alert went out and 135 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 2008-05-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 2008-05-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 78 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1554 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
78 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
166 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS81 KBOX 131516
RFWBOX

RED FLAG WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
1116 AM EDT TUE MAY 13 2008

MAZ002-008-009-NHZ011-012-015-131630-
/O.CAN.KBOX.FW.A.0002.080513T1600Z-080513T2200Z/
WESTERN FRANKLIN MA-WESTERN HAMPSHIRE MA-WESTERN HAMPDEN MA-
CHESHIRE NH-EASTERN HILLSBOROUGH NH-
WESTERN AND CENTRAL HILLSBOROUGH NH-
1116 AM EDT TUE MAY 13 2008

...FIRE WEATHER WATCH IS CANCELLED...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS CANCELED THE FIRE
WEATHER WATCH. 

THE WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELED IN SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE AND ALONG THE
EAST SLOPES OF THE BERKSHIRES. 

ELSEWHERE WHERE THE WATCH WAS IN EFFECT YESTERDAY...IT HAS NOW BEEN
CONVERTED TO A WARNING. 

$$

MAZ003>005-010>012-026-132100-
/O.UPG.KBOX.FW.A.0002.080513T1600Z-080513T2200Z/
/O.NEW.KBOX.FW.W.0002.080513T1600Z-080513T2100Z/
EASTERN FRANKLIN MA-NORTHERN WORCESTER MA-CENTRAL MIDDLESEX MA-
EASTERN HAMPSHIRE MA-EASTERN HAMPDEN MA-SOUTHERN WORCESTER MA-
NORTHERN MIDDLESEX MA-
1116 AM EDT TUE MAY 13 2008

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 PM EDT THIS AFTERNOON...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A RED FLAG
WARNING...WHICH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 PM EDT THIS AFTERNOON. THE
FIRE WEATHER WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. 

ABUNDANT SUNSHINE...WARM TEMPERATURES...HUMIDITY DIPPING TO 20 PERCENT
AND GUSTY NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS OF 25 TO 32 MPH COMBINED WITH
RECENT DRYNESS HAS PROMPTED THE ISSUANCE OF A FIRE WEATHER WARNING.

THE PRIMARY REGION FOR INCREASED FIRE DANGER THE WORCESTER HILLS AND
THE NORTHWEST TWO THIRDS OF MIDDLESEX COUNTY MASSACHUSETTS WHERE WIND
GUSTS WILL BE HIGHEST.

WINDS WILL BE SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THIS EVENING THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE
EITHER OCCURRING NOW...OR WILL SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF STRONG
WINDS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AND WARM TEMPERATURES WILL CREATE
EXPLOSIVE FIRE GROWTH POTENTIAL.

$$
DRAG

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 13, 12:26 PM EDTWind AdvisoryBOXBristol, Dukes, Nantucket94 min

Nearby

Red Flag Warnings in Massachusetts, 2008Every red flag warning in 2008

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.