Alert archive / Massachusetts / Flash Flood Warnings in 2012

Flash Flood Warning 22, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

August 16, 2012Worcester County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this flash flood warning at Aug 16, 2012, 2:11 AM EDT for Worcester County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 3 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Aug 16, 2012, 2:11 AM EDT (06:11 UTC)
Expired: Aug 16, 2012, 5:00 AM EDT
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area: Storm-based polygon
Flood severity: None

County Worcester County, MA

The radar

The Boston radar (KBOX), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:14 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 00:00Z, 6.2 hours before the alert went out and 158 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 0 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -23 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 16 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.

106 
WGUS51 KBOX 160611
FFWBOX
MAC027-160900-
/O.NEW.KBOX.FF.W.0022.120816T0611Z-120816T0900Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
211 AM EDT THU AUG 16 2012

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  CENTRAL WORCESTER COUNTY IN CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS...
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF WORCESTER...

* UNTIL 500 AM EDT

* AT 201 AM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A PERSISTENT AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH TORRENTIAL RAINFALL OVER
  CENTRAL WORCESTER COUNTY.  RAINFALL RATES OF 1 TO 2 INCHES PER 
  HOUR WERE OCCURRING...WITH DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATING THAT 
  2 TO 3 INCHES HAD ALREADY FALLEN BETWEEN OAKHAM AND HUBBARDSTON.

  THE AREA WAS REMAINING RATHER STATIONARY AND THE POTENTIAL 
  EXISTS FOR 2 TO 3 ADDITIONAL INCHES OF RAIN TO FALL IN THE 
  WARNED AREA.
     
FLASH FLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS AND URBAN AREAS IS OCCURRING OR 
IMMINENT. THOSE NEAR STREAMS AND CREEKS...OR IN AREAS PRONE TO 
FLOODING SHOULD MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY. AVOID FLOODED 
ROADS. THE WATER MAY BE TOO DEEP TO ALLOW VEHICLES TO CROSS SAFELY...
OR THE ROADWAY MAY BE UNDERMINED. ONE NEEDS TO BE ESPECIALLY 
CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE DANGERS OF 
FLOODING. TURN AROUND...DONT DROWN!

&&

LAT...LON 4233 7203 4249 7208 4251 7195 4246 7190
      4243 7174 4226 7176 4225 7209

$$
FIELD/DOODY

1 follow-up statement

998 
WGUS71 KBOX 160857
FFSBOX

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
457 AM EDT THU AUG 16 2012

MAC027-160907-
/O.EXP.KBOX.FF.W.0022.000000T0000Z-120816T0900Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/
WORCESTER MA-
457 AM EDT THU AUG 16 2012

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING WILL EXPIRE AT 500 AM EDT FOR CENTRAL
WORCESTER COUNTY...

LAT...LON 4233 7203 4249 7208 4251 7195 4246 7190
      4243 7174 4226 7176 4225 7209

$$

MD

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 15, 8:15 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	BOX		90 min
Aug 15, 8:50 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	BOX		55 min
Aug 15, 9:57 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	BOX		2 hr
Aug 15, 10:33 PM EDT	Areal Flood Advisory	BOX	Barnstable, Bristol, Plymouth	116 min
Aug 15, 10:39 PM EDT	Areal Flood Advisory	BOX	Essex, Middlesex, Suffolk, Worcester	3 hr
Aug 15, 10:52 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	BOX	Hampden	53 min
Aug 15, 11:21 PM EDT	Areal Flood Advisory	BOX	Barnstable	2 hr
Aug 15, 11:49 PM EDT	Areal Flood Advisory	BOX	Essex, Middlesex, Suffolk	3 hr
Aug 16, 12:34 AM EDT	Areal Flood Advisory	BOX	Middlesex, Norfolk, Suffolk, Worcester	3 hr
Aug 16, 1:41 AM EDT	Areal Flood Advisory	BOX	Worcester	104 min
Aug 16, 3:10 AM EDT	Areal Flood Advisory	BOX	Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex, Worcester	3 hr
Aug 16, 3:40 AM EDT	Areal Flood Advisory	BOX	Middlesex, Worcester	3 hr
Aug 16, 6:10 AM EDT	Special Weather Statement	BOX	Hampshire	35 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Massachusetts, 2012 Every flash flood warning in 2012

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.