NE Thunderstorms, 6/30 (Newbie)

[bkdelong]

I'm a newbie both on this board and to Skywarn/Weather Watching. I was reading today's Special Weather Statement from NWS Taunton and was curious as to the best way to "see" the unstable airmass and best watch clouds develop over Southern New England:

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
1207 PM EDT FRI JUN 30 2006

CTZ002>004-MAZ002>015-018-019-022-026-NHZ011-012-015-301945-
HARTFORD CT-TOLLAND CT-WINDHAM CT-WESTERN FRANKLIN MA-
EASTERN FRANKLIN MA-NORTHERN WORCESTER MA-CENTRAL MIDDLESEX MA-
WESTERN ESSEX MA-EASTERN ESSEX MA-WESTERN HAMPSHIRE MA-
WESTERN HAMPDEN MA-EASTERN HAMPSHIRE MA-EASTERN HAMPDEN MA-
SOUTHERN WORCESTER MA-WESTERN NORFOLK MA-SOUTHEAST MIDDLESEX MA-
SUFFOLK MA-WESTERN PLYMOUTH MA-EASTERN PLYMOUTH MA-BARNSTABLE MA-
NORTHERN MIDDLESEX MA-CHESHIRE NH-EASTERN HILLSBOROUGH NH-
WESTERN AND CENTRAL HILLSBOROUGH NH-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...HARTFORD...WINDSOR LOCKS...UNION...
VERNON...PUTNAM...WILLIMANTIC...CHARLEMONT...GREENFIELD...
ORANGE...BARRE...FITCHBURG...FRAMINGHAM...LOWELL...LAWRENCE...
GLOUCESTER...CHESTERFIELD...BLANDFORD...AMHERST...NORTHAMPTON...
SPRINGFIELD...MILFORD...WORCESTER...FOXBORO...NORWOOD...
CAMBRIDGE...BOSTON...BROCKTON...PLYMOUTH...CHATHAM...FALMOUTH...
PROVINCETOWN...AYER...JAFFREY...KEENE...MANCHESTER...NASHUA...
PETERBOROUGH...WEARE
1207 PM EDT FRI JUN 30 2006

...THUNDERSTORMS MAY SUDDENLY DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS PORTIONS
OF MASSACHUSETTS SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE AND NORTH CENTRAL CONNECTICUT...

AN UNSTABLE AIRMASS IS DEVELOPING OVER SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND AND THERE
ARE INDICATIONS THAT GUSTY THUNDERSTORMS WILL INTERRUPT OUTDOOR
ACTIVITIES...ESPECIALLY IN SOUTH CENTRAL NEW HAMPSHIRE AND BOTH THE NORTH
AND NORTHEAST PARTS OF MASSACHUSETTS BETWEEN 1230 PM AND 5 PM. THE
THREAT FOR THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD RAPIDLY DIMINISH AFTER 5 PM FROM
KEENE...JAFFREY ORANGE FITCHBURG LOWELL BOSTON AND GLOUCESTER.

MEANWHILE...THERE IS A LESSER CHANCE OF A SECOND REGION OF THUNDERSTORMS
DEVELOPING OVER NORTH CENTRAL CONNECTICUT AFTER 5 PM.

GUSTY WINDS TO 45 MPH...HAIL AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING STRIKES
MAY ACCOMPANY ANY THUNDERSTORMS THAT DO OCCUR.

GOLFERS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR THREATENING SKIES LATER TODAY. MARINERS
IN THE COASTAL WATERS FROM BOSTON HARBOR TO NEWBURYPORT ALSO NEED TO
MONITOR THE SKIES AND YOUR FAVORITE SOURCE OF WEATHER INFORMATION FOR
ANY UPDATED STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS.
-----------------------------------
I've been looking at some of the GOES-E visible and IR but the imagery doesn't seem to be hi-res enough to get a good look at developing clouds, heights etc..

Am I going about this the wrong way? Where should I be looking?

Thanks in advance.

[Stephanie]

Welcome!!!

If you go to our home page and look up the forecast for your town (my Grandmother was born in Salem, BTW), there's a base reflectivity radar that will show any storms that may be popping in your area.

Also, go here; http://www.nws.noaa.gov/ and select "satelite". There are a variety of different maps that you can view.

[bkdelong]

Oh, I'm all over the base reflectivity and even the GOES-East Visible and IR. But storms start developing on sat long before they show up on radar and the resolution on the sat seems too low. I guess I just need to know what to look for on wind maps, pressure maps, water vapor etc.

Thanks!

[Stephanie]

N/P

It sounds like you're alittle bit more advanced than I am. You've come to the right place for advice though.

[HurricaneBill]

(my Grandmother was born in Salem, BTW)

Hey, me too!

[Yankeegirl]

Wecome, I am a Yankee too!!! Org. from Woonsocket, RI!! Glad to have you here!

[wxmann_91]

Go to the skew-t's/soundings; they will tell you almost everything about the thermodynamic indexes. Developing storms will show up as cumulus on the visibles. Upper-air charts are also important, and look for falling pressures. That should give you a general idea of where storms will form. Echo tops, along with higher tilts of the Base Reflectivity and Composite Reflectivity, available with GRLevel3, can show developing storms approximately 10-20 minutes before they show up on the lowest tilt.

I don't really if this is what you asked for. Feel free to ask more questions if you are confused since I didn't really specify some of things stated in the post; I've to go to sleep now.

[bkdelong]

Thanks for the advice. I'll start looking with today's thunderstorms forcast for SNE and let you know if I have any questions. Any URLs to these charts would be great though I'll start searching myself.