Alert archive / Massachusetts / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2012

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 6, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

May 16, 2012Cheshire County, New Hampshire; Franklin County, Worcester County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 16, 2012, 8:23 PM EDT for Cheshire County, New Hampshire; Franklin County, Worcester County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 52 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 16, 2012, 8:23 PM EDT (00:23 UTC)
Expired: May 16, 2012, 9:15 PM EDT
In force: 52 min
Issued by: NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area: Storm-based polygon

Counties Franklin County, MA, Worcester County, MA, Cheshire County, NH

The radar

The Boston radar (KBOX), 128 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:23 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 was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 16, 8:27 PM EDT	HAIL 1	Northfield, MA

Local storm reports filed while the alert was in force, from inside its polygon or its counties.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 16, 1:18 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	9 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Albany, NY (KALY), launched 00:00Z, 0.4 hours before the alert went out and 130 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: 23 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -171 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1330 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -45 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 97 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: -0.0
Supercell composite: -0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

356 
WUUS51 KBOX 170023 RRA
SVRBOX
MAC011-027-NHC005-170115-
/O.NEW.KBOX.SV.W.0006.120517T0023Z-120517T0115Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
823 PM EDT WED MAY 16 2012

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  NORTHWESTERN WORCESTER COUNTY IN CENTRAL MASSACHUSETTS...
  SOUTHERN CHESHIRE COUNTY IN SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE...
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF JAFFREY...
  NORTHEASTERN FRANKLIN COUNTY IN WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS...

* UNTIL 915 PM EDT

* AT 818 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING QUARTER SIZE HAIL...AND
  DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH.  THIS STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR
  NORTHFIELD...OR 11 MILES NORTHEAST OF GREENFIELD...AND WAS MOVING
  EAST AT 30 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...WINCHESTER...WARWICK...
  RICHMOND...ROYALSTON...TROY...FITZWILLIAM...WINCHENDON AND RINDGE.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL...AS WELL
AS DEADLY LIGHTNING AND TORRENTIAL RAIN. GET TO SAFE SHELTER NOW...
INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING OR IN A VEHICLE. DO NOT SEEK SHELTER UNDER
TREES. IF YOU CAN HEAR THUNDER...YOU ARE CLOSE ENOUGH TO BE STRUCK BY
LIGHTNING. DRIVERS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR PONDING OF WATER AND AVOID
FLOODED ROADS.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM EDT
WEDNESDAY EVENING FOR NORTHERN CONNECTICUT AND SOUTHERN MASSACHUSETTS
AND SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE.

&&

LAT...LON 4291 7202 4280 7197 4279 7198 4279 7196
      4264 7190 4260 7250 4273 7254 4273 7246
      4277 7250 4276 7252 4279 7252
TIME...MOT...LOC 0023Z 256DEG 26KT 4270 7240

$$

FRANK

2 follow-up statements

241 
WWUS51 KBOX 170031
SVSBOX

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
831 PM EDT WED MAY 16 2012

MAC011-027-NHC005-170115-
/O.CON.KBOX.SV.W.0006.000000T0000Z-120517T0115Z/
CHESHIRE NH-WORCESTER MA-FRANKLIN MA-
831 PM EDT WED MAY 16 2012

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 915 PM EDT
FOR NORTHEASTERN FRANKLIN...NORTHWESTERN WORCESTER AND SOUTHERN
CHESHIRE COUNTIES...

AT 827 PM EDT...TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTERS REPORTED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING QUARTER SIZE HAIL...AND DAMAGING
WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH.  THIS STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR WARWICK...OR
15 MILES NORTHEAST OF GREENFIELD...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO
RICHMOND...ROYALSTON...TROY...FITZWILLIAM...WINCHENDON...RINDGE AND
JAFFREY

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

HAIL UP TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER HAS BEEN REPORTED IN NORTHFIELD WITH 
THIS STORM. 

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM EDT
WEDNESDAY EVENING FOR NORTHERN CONNECTICUT AND SOUTHERN MASSACHUSETTS
AND SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE.

&&

LAT...LON 4291 7202 4280 7197 4279 7198 4279 7196
      4264 7190 4260 7250 4273 7254 4273 7246
      4277 7250 4276 7252 4279 7252
TIME...MOT...LOC 0030Z 256DEG 26KT 4271 7233

$$

FRANK

309 
WWUS51 KBOX 170047
SVSBOX

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
847 PM EDT WED MAY 16 2012

MAC011-027-NHC005-170115-
/O.CON.KBOX.SV.W.0006.000000T0000Z-120517T0115Z/
CHESHIRE NH-WORCESTER MA-FRANKLIN MA-
847 PM EDT WED MAY 16 2012

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 915 PM EDT
FOR NORTHEASTERN FRANKLIN...NORTHWESTERN WORCESTER AND SOUTHERN
CHESHIRE COUNTIES...

AT 845 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUED TO
INDICATE A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING QUARTER SIZE
HAIL...AND DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH.  THIS STORM WAS
LOCATED NEAR WARWICK...OR 16 MILES NORTHEAST OF GREENFIELD...MOVING
EAST AT 30 MPH.

OTHER LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO
RICHMOND...ROYALSTON...TROY...FITZWILLIAM...WINCHENDON...RINDGE AND
JAFFREY

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM EDT
WEDNESDAY EVENING FOR NORTHERN CONNECTICUT AND SOUTHERN MASSACHUSETTS
AND SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE.

&&

LAT...LON 4291 7202 4280 7197 4279 7198 4279 7196
      4264 7190 4260 7250 4273 7254 4273 7246
      4277 7250 4276 7252 4279 7252
TIME...MOT...LOC 0047Z 256DEG 26KT 4271 7231

$$

FRANK

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 16, 8:09 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	BOX	Cheshire	66 min
May 16, 8:13 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	BOX	Hillsborough	47 min
May 16, 8:23 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Cheshire, Hillsborough	31 min
May 17, 3:37 AM EDT	Frost Advisory	BOX	Cheshire, Hillsborough	27 hr
May 16, 8:20 PM EDT	Dense Fog Advisory	BOX	Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Nantucket, Norfolk, Plymouth	7 hr
May 16, 8:33 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	BOX	Franklin	42 min
May 16, 8:53 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	BOX	Franklin, Hampshire	67 min
May 16, 8:57 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOX	Franklin, Worcester	63 min
May 16, 9:13 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	BOX	Hampden, Hampshire	62 min
May 16, 9:39 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	BOX	Worcester	66 min
May 16, 10:07 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	BOX	Hampden, Worcester	53 min
May 17, 3:43 AM EDT	Small Craft Advisory for Hazardous Seas	BOX		18 hr
May 17, 3:46 PM EDT	Small Craft Advisory for Hazardous Seas	BOX		6 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Massachusetts, 2012 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in New Hampshire, 2012 Every severe thunderstorm 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; local storm reports from the same archive; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.