Alert archive / Massachusetts / Tornado Watches in 2008
Tornado Watch 937
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Nov 15, 2008, 6:55 PM EST for 4 states. It was in force for 3 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Nov 15, 2008, 6:55 PM EST (23:55 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 15, 2008, 9:31 PM EST
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 0.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 30 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, Southeastern Connecticut Planning Region, CT, Bristol County, MA, Essex County, MA, Franklin County, MA, Hampden County, MA, Hampshire County, MA, Middlesex County, MA, Norfolk County, MA, Plymouth County, MA, Suffolk County, MA, Worcester County, MA, Bronx County, NY, Kings County, NY, Nassau County, NY, New York County, NY, Putnam County, NY, Queens County, NY, Richmond County, NY, Suffolk County, NY, Westchester County, NY, Bristol County, RI, Kent County, RI, Newport County, RI, Providence County, RI, Washington County, RI
The radar
The Boston radar (KBOX), 96 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:58 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
- 30%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 10%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 10%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 5%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 5%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 5%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 50%
Warnings issued inside it
1 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 15, 7:39 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OKX | Greater Bridgeport Planning Region | 22 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
Brookhaven, NY (KOKX), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 126 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 604 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 69 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 246 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 314 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 152356
SEL7
SPC WW 152356
CTZ000-MAZ000-NYZ000-RIZ000-CWZ000-160700-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 937
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
650 PM EST SAT NOV 15 2008
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
CONNECTICUT
MASSACHUSETTS
SOUTHEASTERN NEW YORK
RHODE ISLAND
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING FROM 650 PM
UNTIL 200 AM EST.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 0.5 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 60 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 35 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF
WORCESTER MASSACHUSETTS TO 20 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF ISLIP NEW
YORK. 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.
OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 934...WW 935...WW 936...
DISCUSSION...BROKEN BAND OF SHOWERS/OCCASIONAL TSTMS OVER THE LWR
HUDSON VLY SWD INTO NJ EXPECTED TO CONTINUE ENE INTO NEW ENG LATER
THIS EVE AS INDIVIDUAL CELLS MOVE RAPIDLY NNE ALONG IT. BOUNDARY
LAYER HAS SLIGHTLY WARMED/MOISTENED IN THE PAST 2 HRS ACROSS
WW...AND MAIN SFC LOW OVER UPSTATE NY IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE
DEEPENING /LIKELY MAINTAINING AXIS OF CONVERGENCE ALONG CONVECTIVE
BAND/. ALTHOUGH LOW LVL LAPSE RATES WILL REMAIN WEAK...COMBINATION
OF STRONG WIND FIELD WITH EXISTING UPDRAFTS SUGGESTS AN EWD SPREAD
OF ISOLD TORNADO THREAT FROM THE LWR HUDSON VLY/NRN NJ INTO
SRN/CNTRL NEW ENG.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
300. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 22045.
...CORFIDISPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 15, 2:56 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Northwest Hills Planning Region | 6 hr |
| Nov 15, 6:15 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | 2 hr | |
| Nov 15, 1:47 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Columbia, Delaware, Dutchess, Greene, New York, Orange and 5 more | 58 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Massachusetts, 2008Tornado Watches in New York, 2008Tornado Watches in Connecticut, 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.