Alert archive / Massachusetts / Flash Flood Warnings in 2014

Flash Flood Warning 27, NWS Boston/Norton, MA

July 16, 2014Essex County, Middlesex County, Massachusetts

NWS Boston/Norton, MA issued this flash flood warning at Jul 16, 2014, 2:32 PM EDT for Essex County, Middlesex County, Massachusetts. It was in force for 3 hr. 7 reports 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: Jul 16, 2014, 2:32 PM EDT (18:32 UTC)
Expired: Jul 16, 2014, 5:30 PM EDT
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Boston/Norton, MA
Area: Storm-based polygon
Flood severity: None

Counties Essex County, MA, Middlesex County, MA

The radar

The Boston radar (KBOX), 73 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:33 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
Jul 16, 2:40 PM EDT	FLASH FLOOD	Waltham, MA	PROSPECT STREET UNDER WATER.
Jul 16, 2:54 PM EDT	FLASH FLOOD	Arlington, MA	SEVERAL ROAD CLOSURES IN THE AREA OF MYSTIC ST AND MYSTIC VALLEY PARKWAY DUE TO FLOODING.
Jul 16, 3:02 PM EDT	FLASH FLOOD	Waltham, MA	BACON STREET FLOODED
Jul 16, 3:02 PM EDT	FLASH FLOOD	Waltham, MA	DOWNTOWN FLOODED. CARS STUCK. PROSPECT STREET UNDER WATER. EXIT 26 AT ROUTE 20 ON ROUTE 128 MANY CARS FLOODED AND STRANDED.
Jul 16, 3:04 PM EDT	FLASH FLOOD	Waltham, MA	8 LANES FLOODED AND CLOSED ON ROUTE 128
Jul 16, 3:05 PM EDT	FLASH FLOOD	Waltham, MA	SECOND STREET AND CABOT STREET FLOODED
Jul 16, 3:25 PM EDT	FLASH FLOOD	Medford, MA	MEDFORD SQUARE FLOODED WITH WATER UP TO ENGINE BLOCKS OF CARS.

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

The nearest sounding before it

Chatham, MA (KCHH), launched 12:00Z, 6.5 hours before the alert went out and 134 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: 377 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -38 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 644 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 175 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 170 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.

445 
WGUS51 KBOX 161832
FFWBOX
MAC009-017-162130-
/O.NEW.KBOX.FF.W.0027.140716T1832Z-140716T2130Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
232 PM EDT WED JUL 16 2014

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TAUNTON HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  EAST CENTRAL MIDDLESEX COUNTY IN NORTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS...
  CENTRAL ESSEX COUNTY IN NORTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS...

* UNTIL 530 PM EDT

* AT 231 PM EDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING 
  HEAVY RAIN ACROSS THE WARNED AREA. AROUND ONE INCH OF RAIN HAS 
  ALREADY FALLEN. FLASH FLOODING IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN SHORTLY.

* SOME LOCATIONS THAT WILL EXPERIENCE FLOODING INCLUDE...
  BOSTON...CAMBRIDGE...LYNN...NEWTON...SOMERVILLE...WALTHAM...
  MALDEN...MEDFORD...PEABODY...ARLINGTON...WOBURN...NATICK...
  WATERTOWN...LEXINGTON...NEEDHAM...NORTH ANDOVER...WELLESLEY...
  MELROSE...SAUGUS...DANVERS...WAKEFIELD...READING...BELMONT...
  BURLINGTON...WILMINGTON...STONEHAM...WINCHESTER...NEWBURYPORT...
  NORTH READING AND IPSWICH.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

MOST FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN VEHICLES. TURN AROUND...DONT DROWN!

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING IS ISSUED FOR RAPID AND POTENTIALLY LIFE 
THREATENING FLOODING. FLOODING OF STREETS AND UNDERPASSES IS 
IMMINENT. IN URBAN AREAS AVOID FLOODED ROADS AND OBEY ROAD CLOSURES. 
DO NOT DRIVE THROUGH FLOODED ROADS AND FIND ALTERNATE ROUTES.

&&

LAT...LON 4282 7081 4281 7087 4280 7083 4281 7081
      4279 7081 4274 7079 4273 7080 4276 7081
      4271 7081 4236 7113 4235 7118 4229 7120
      4233 7125 4232 7133 4230 7133 4231 7136
      4287 7082

$$

SIPPRELL

2 follow-up statements

336 
WGUS71 KBOX 161923
FFSBOX

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
323 PM EDT WED JUL 16 2014

MAC009-017-162130-
/O.CON.KBOX.FF.W.0027.000000T0000Z-140716T2130Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/
MIDDLESEX MA-ESSEX MA-
323 PM EDT WED JUL 16 2014

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 530 PM EDT FOR
EAST CENTRAL MIDDLESEX AND CENTRAL ESSEX COUNTIES...

AT 318 PM EDT...TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTERS REPORTED FLASH FLOODING 
AROUND WALTHAM...LEXINGTON...AND ARLINGTON WITH NUMEROUS ROAD 
CLOSURES. REPORTS HAVE BEEN GATHERED OF MOTORISTS BECOMING TRAPPED 
IN THEIR CARS WITHIN THE FLOOD WATERS. 

AROUND TWO INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN. FLASH FLOODING IS ALREADY 
OCCURRING. DO NOT DRIVE INTO FLOODED WATERS!

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

MOST FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN VEHICLES. TURN AROUND...DONT DROWN!

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING IS ISSUED FOR RAPID AND POTENTIALLY LIFE 
THREATENING FLOODING. FLOODING OF STREETS AND UNDERPASSES IS 
IMMINENT. IN URBAN AREAS AVOID FLOODED ROADS AND OBEY ROAD CLOSURES. 
DO NOT DRIVE THROUGH FLOODED ROADS AND FIND ALTERNATE ROUTES.

&&

LAT...LON 4282 7081 4281 7087 4280 7083 4281 7081
      4279 7081 4274 7079 4273 7080 4276 7081
      4271 7081 4236 7113 4235 7118 4229 7120
      4233 7125 4232 7133 4230 7133 4231 7136
      4287 7082

$$

SIPPRELL

406 
WGUS71 KBOX 162117
FFSBOX

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
517 PM EDT WED JUL 16 2014

MAC009-017-162126-
/O.CAN.KBOX.FF.W.0027.000000T0000Z-140716T2130Z/
/00000.0.ER.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.000000T0000Z.OO/
MIDDLESEX MA-ESSEX MA-
517 PM EDT WED JUL 16 2014

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR EAST CENTRAL MIDDLESEX AND CENTRAL
ESSEX COUNTIES IS CANCELLED...

FLOOD WATERS HAVE RECEDED...AND ARE NO LONGER EXPECTED TO POSE A
THREAT TO LIFE OR PROPERTY. PLEASE CONTINUE TO HEED ANY ROAD
CLOSURES.

LAT...LON 4282 7081 4281 7087 4280 7083 4281 7081
      4279 7081 4274 7079 4273 7080 4276 7081
      4271 7081 4236 7113 4235 7118 4229 7120
      4233 7125 4232 7133 4230 7133 4231 7136
      4287 7082

$$

SIPPRELL

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 15, 8:48 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	BOX	Franklin	57 min
Jul 15, 9:56 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	BOX	Franklin	3 hr
Jul 15, 10:29 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	BOX	Worcester	46 min
Jul 15, 11:14 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	BOX	Middlesex	61 min
Jul 15, 11:49 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	BOX	Bristol, Plymouth	56 min
Jul 15, 11:51 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	BOX	Bristol, Plymouth	3 hr
Jul 16, 12:31 AM EDT	Special Weather Statement	BOX	Bristol, Plymouth	59 min
Jul 16, 12:55 AM EDT	Special Marine Warning	BOX		65 min
Jul 16, 4:33 AM EDT	Special Weather Statement	BOX	Dukes	57 min
Jul 16, 4:44 AM EDT	Areal Flood Advisory	BOX	Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Plymouth	2 hr
Jul 16, 7:38 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	BOX	Bristol	3 hr
Jul 16, 8:32 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	BOX	Bristol, Plymouth	118 min
Jul 16, 9:23 AM EDT	Special Weather Statement	BOX	Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk	52 min
Jul 16, 10:30 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	BOX	Bristol, Plymouth	4 hr
Jul 16, 2:09 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	BOX	Essex, Norfolk, Suffolk	81 min
Jul 16, 2:46 PM EDT	Special Weather Statement	BOX	Essex, Suffolk	59 min
Jul 16, 2:49 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	BOX	Essex, Middlesex, Suffolk	3 hr
Jul 16, 3:35 PM EDT	Small Craft Advisory for Hazardous Seas	BOX		24 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Massachusetts, 2014 Every flash flood warning in 2014

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.