Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 101, NWS Cleveland, OH

July 20, 1986McKean County, Warren County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 20, 1986, 12:03 PM EDT for McKean County, Warren County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 57 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Jul 20, 1986, 12:03 PM EDT (16:03 UTC)
Expired
Jul 20, 1986, 1:00 PM EDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Cleveland, OH
Area
Whole counties

Counties McKean County, PA, Warren County, PA

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 20, 12:30 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Warren, PA

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Buffalo Intl Airport, NY (KBUF), launched 12:00Z, 4.1 hours before the alert went out and 126 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 12:00Z on 1986-07-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2381 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 12:00Z on 1986-07-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 91 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2381 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
552 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
91 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
174 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
5.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KERI 201603
SVRERI
PAC083-123-201700-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ERIE PA
1203 PM EDT SUN JUL 20 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 100 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES OF

NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA...MCKEAN AND WARREN

AT NOON ERIE WEATHER RADAR SHOWED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN
WARREN AND MCKEAN COUNTIES..MOVING TOWARDS THE SOUTHEAST AT
20 MILES AN HOUR. TREES AND POWER LINES WERE REPORTED
DOWNED BETWEEN RUSSELL AND NORTH WARREN IN WARREN COUNTY AS
THESE STORMS MOVED THROUGH.

 THIS STORM IS ACCOMPANIED BY INTENSE LIGHTNING AND STRONG GUSTY
 WINDS.

 THESE STOR^MS ARE CAUSING VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS WHICH WILL CAUSE
 FLOODING.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 20, 7:36 AM EDT, 4 hours 27 minutes before
SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR OHIO
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
735 AM EDT SUN JUL 20 1986

THE NATIONAL SEVERE STORMS FORECAST CENTER IN KANSAS CITY SAYS THAT
THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SEVdERE THUNDERSTORMS FOR EXTREME EASTERN
OHIO TODAY. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED IN OHIO TONIGHT.

RJM

The office that day

Everything else NWS Cleveland, OH issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 20, 10:38 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEWarren82 min
Jul 20, 12:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEVenango78 min
Jul 20, 12:47 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEForest58 min
Jul 20, 1:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLECameron, Elk, McKean52 min
Jul 20, 1:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEForest, Venango, Warren52 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1986Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1986

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.