Alert archive / Vermont / Tornado Watches in 2011

Tornado Watch 380

May 26, 20114 counties in New York; 12 counties in Vermont

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 26, 2011, 12:29 PM EDT for 4 counties in New York; 12 counties in Vermont. It was in force for 8 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 26, 2011, 12:29 PM EDT (16:29 UTC)
Expired
May 26, 2011, 8:00 PM EDT
In force
8 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Clinton County, NY, Essex County, NY, Franklin County, NY, St. Lawrence County, NY, Addison County, VT, Caledonia County, VT, Chittenden County, VT, Essex County, VT, Franklin County, VT, Grand Isle County, VT, Lamoille County, VT, Orange County, VT, Orleans County, VT, Rutland County, VT, Washington County, VT, Windsor County, VT

The radar

The Burlington radar (KCXX), 10 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:30 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
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
40%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
40%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 26, 12:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBTVClinton, Essex, Franklin67 min
May 26, 1:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBTVCaledonia, Chittenden, Essex, Franklin, Lamoille, Orleans61 min
May 26, 2:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBTVCaledonia, Essex, Orleans50 min
May 26, 3:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBTVClinton, Essex, Franklin, St. Lawrence53 min
May 26, 4:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBTVChittenden, Franklin, Grand Isle, Lamoille, Orleans63 min
May 26, 4:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBTVClinton, Essex, Franklin, St. Lawrence56 min
May 26, 5:23 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBTVEssex67 min
May 26, 5:32 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningBTVEssex3 hr
May 26, 6:07 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBTVCaledonia, Chittenden, Essex, Lamoille, Orleans, Washington53 min
May 26, 6:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBTVEssex66 min
May 26, 6:54 PM EDTTornado WarningBTVCaledonia, Orange, Washington36 min
May 26, 6:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBTVCaledonia, Essex, Washington32 min
May 26, 7:29 PM EDTTornado WarningBTVCaledonia, Essex, Orange, Washington31 min
May 26, 7:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBTVEssex60 min
May 26, 7:33 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningBTVChittenden, Washington3 hr
May 26, 7:45 PM EDTTornado WarningBTVAddison, Caledonia, Orange, Washington30 min
May 26, 7:59 PM EDTTornado WarningBTVCaledonia, Essex31 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 211 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 2011-05-26Temperature 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°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Albany, NY at 12:00Z on 2011-05-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 274 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
1004 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
274 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
327 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 26, 11:55 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBroome, Cayuga, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware and 15 more95 min
May 26, 2:16 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCAlbany, Broome, Cayuga, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland and 26 more8 hr
May 26, 2:57 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlbany, Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Clinton, Cortland and 20 more63 min
May 26, 5:49 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCSullivan56 min
May 26, 6:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAllegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Livingston, Ontario and 1 more6 hr
May 26, 6:41 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlbany, Broome, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Essex and 16 more64 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Vermont, 2011Tornado Watches in New York, 2011Every tornado watch in 2011

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.