Alert archive / New York / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2021

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 495

September 12, 202113 counties in New York; Erie County, Pennsylvania

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Sep 12, 2021, 10:25 PM EDT for 13 counties in New York; Erie County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Sep 12, 2021, 10:25 PM EDT (02:25 UTC)
Expired
Sep 13, 2021, 2:00 AM EDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
55 kt

Counties Allegany County, NY, Cattaraugus County, NY, Chautauqua County, NY, Chemung County, NY, Erie County, NY, Genesee County, NY, Livingston County, NY, Ontario County, NY, Schuyler County, NY, Seneca County, NY, Steuben County, NY, Wyoming County, NY, Yates County, NY, Erie County, PA

The radar

The Buffalo radar (KBUF), 36 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:27 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
10%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
2%
Ten or more severe wind reports
40%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
10%
Ten or more severe hail reports
10%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
10%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
60%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 12, 11:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threatBUFCattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie75 min
Sep 12, 11:23 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEErie37 min
Sep 12, 11:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFAllegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie, Livingston, Wyoming86 min
Sep 13, 12:09 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFErie, Genesee, Wyoming66 min
Sep 13, 12:25 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningBUFErie, Genesee, Wyoming3 hr
Sep 13, 12:45 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threatBGMChemung, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben, Yates60 min
Sep 13, 12:50 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBUFLivingston, Ontario55 min
Sep 13, 1:26 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBGMCayuga, Chemung, Cortland, Schuyler, Seneca, Steuben and 3 more53 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

Buffalo Intl Airport, NY (KBUF), launched 00:00Z, 2.4 hours before the alert went out and 34 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 00:00Z on 2021-09-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 412 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 00:00Z on 2021-09-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 205 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
412 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-125 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
706 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
205 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
168 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

136 
WWUS20 KWNS 130222
SEL5  
SPC WW 130222
NYZ000-PAZ000-LEZ000-130600-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 495
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
1025 PM EDT Sun Sep 12 2021

The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Watch for portions of 
  Eastern New York
  Far Northwest Pennsylvania
  Lake Erie

* Effective this Sunday night and Monday morning from 1025 PM
  until 200 AM EDT.

* Primary threats include...
  Scattered damaging wind gusts to 65 mph possible

SUMMARY...A compact elevated bow across southwest Ontario should
spread into western New York before weakening overnight.

The severe thunderstorm watch area is approximately along and 40
statute miles north and south of a line from 50 miles west northwest
of Jamestown NY to 35 miles north northeast of Elmira NY. For a
complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline
update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU5).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

REMEMBER...A Severe Thunderstorm Watch means conditions are
favorable for severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch area.
Persons in these areas should be on the lookout for threatening
weather conditions and listen for later statements and possible
warnings. Severe thunderstorms can and occasionally do produce
tornadoes.

&&

AVIATION...A few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to
1 inch. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 55 knots. A few
cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 550. Mean storm motion vector
28060.

...Grams

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 12, 9:14 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCErie91 min
Sep 13, 12:26 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllegany, Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware and 9 more94 min
Sep 13, 4:11 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua2 hr
Sep 13, 5:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCCameron, Centre, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Columbia and 14 more3 hr
Sep 13, 7:07 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCarbon, Centre, Clearfield, Columbia, Jefferson, Luzerne and 5 more113 min
Sep 13, 7:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBucks, Carbon, Lehigh, Luzerne, Monroe, Northampton4 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in New York, 2021Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Pennsylvania, 2021Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2021

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.