Alert archive / Maine / Tornado Watches in 2008

Tornado Watch 745

July 24, 200813 counties in Maine

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jul 24, 2008, 12:57 PM EDT for 13 counties in Maine. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 24, 2008, 12:57 PM EDT (16:57 UTC)
Expired
Jul 24, 2008, 5:59 PM EDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Androscoggin County, ME, Cumberland County, ME, Franklin County, ME, Kennebec County, ME, Knox County, ME, Lincoln County, ME, Oxford County, ME, Penobscot County, ME, Piscataquis County, ME, Sagadahoc County, ME, Somerset County, ME, Waldo County, ME, York County, ME

The radar

The Portland,ME radar (KGYX), 107 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:57 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
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
Ten or more severe hail reports
10%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
5%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 24, 1:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGYXCumberland, Oxford, York42 min
Jul 24, 1:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGYXCumberland, York50 min
Jul 24, 2:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGYXFranklin, Oxford50 min
Jul 24, 2:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGYXAndroscoggin, Cumberland, Kennebec, Oxford51 min
Jul 24, 3:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGYXFranklin, Oxford41 min
Jul 24, 3:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGYXAndroscoggin, Franklin, Oxford31 min
Jul 24, 5:36 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGYXCumberland, Oxford, York39 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

Gray, ME (KGYX), launched 12:00Z, 5.0 hours before the alert went out and 107 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, Gray, ME at 12:00Z on 2008-07-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 186 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, Gray, ME at 12:00Z on 2008-07-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 131 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
186 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-64 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
687 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
131 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
188 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
2.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 24, 10:40 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAndroscoggin, Cumberland, Kennebec, Lincoln, Sagadahoc, York2 hr
Jul 24, 12:52 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAndroscoggin, Cumberland, Franklin, Kennebec, Knox, Lincoln and 7 more53 min
Jul 24, 3:49 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAndroscoggin, Aroostook, Cumberland, Franklin, Hancock, Kennebec and 9 more116 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Maine, 2008Every tornado watch 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.