Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 103, NWS Cleveland, OH

July 20, 1986Forest County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 20, 1986, 12:47 PM EDT for Forest County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 58 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 20, 1986, 12:47 PM EDT (16:47 UTC)
Expired
Jul 20, 1986, 1:45 PM EDT
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Cleveland, OH
Area
Whole counties

County Forest County, PA

The radar

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

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 4.8 hours before the alert went out and 142 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1986-07-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1369 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1986-07-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 40 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1369 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-38 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
938 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
40 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
52 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.

000 
TTAA00 KERI 201647
SVRERI
PAC053-201745-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ERIE PA
1247 PM EDT SUN JUL 20 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 145 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTY OF

NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA...FOREST

AT 1215 PM ERIE WEATHER RADAR SHOWED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
MOVING SOUTHEASTWARD FROM WARREN COUNTY TOWARDS FOREST COUNTYy.

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

 THESE STORMS HAVE BEEN CAUSING VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND FLOODING
 WILL OCCUR.

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, 5 hours 11 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
Special weather statement, Jul 20, 12:45 PM EDT, 2 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE YOUNGSTOWN OH
1240 PM EDT SUN JUL 20 1986

INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING OVER MERCER COUNTY PA.

AT 1235 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED AN AREA OF INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS
DEVELOPING FROM FROM NEAR SHARON NORTHEAST ACROSS MERCER COUNTY INTO
NORTHWEST VENANGO COUNTY.  THESE STORMS ARE MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT
25 MPH.

THESE STORMS WILL CONTAIN VERY HEAVY RAIN, HAIL, AND DANGEROUS LjIGHTNING.

PEOPLE IN MERCER COUNTY SHOULD BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO SHELTER IF THREATENING
WEATHER APPROACHES.

TAYLOR

                                                                             [

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, 12:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEMcKean, Warren57 min
Jul 20, 12:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEVenango78 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.