Alert archive / Massachusetts / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2018
Severe Thunderstorm Watch 97
The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 15, 2018, 2:26 PM EDT for 6 counties in Massachusetts; Cheshire County, Hillsborough County, Rockingham County, New Hampshire; 5 counties in Rhode Island. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 15, 2018, 2:26 PM EDT (18:26 UTC)
- Expired
- May 15, 2018, 7:42 PM EDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 65 kt
Counties Bristol County, MA, Essex County, MA, Middlesex County, MA, Norfolk County, MA, Plymouth County, MA, Suffolk County, MA, Cheshire County, NH, Hillsborough County, NH, Rockingham County, NH, Bristol County, RI, Kent County, RI, Newport County, RI, Providence County, RI, Washington County, RI
The radar
The Boston radar (KBOX), 20 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:28 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
- 20%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 10%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 70%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 30%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 30%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 20%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 90%
Warnings issued inside it
3 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 4:59 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Middlesex, Suffolk, Worcester | 31 min |
| May 15, 5:48 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Kent, Providence | 27 min |
| May 15, 5:57 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOX | Kent, Newport, Washington | 35 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
Chatham, MA (KCHH), launched 12:00Z, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 121 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
- 884 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 29 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 8 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 54 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 11:43 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire | 3 hr |
| May 15, 1:03 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Berkshire | 4 hr |
| May 15, 1:58 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bristol, Essex, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Middlesex and 3 more | 2 hr |
| May 15, 2:23 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire, Worcester | 4 hr |
| May 15, 2:38 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Berkshire, Franklin, Hampden, Hampshire | 2 hr |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Massachusetts, 2018Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Rhode Island, 2018Severe Thunderstorm Watches in New Hampshire, 2018Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2018
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.