Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 104, NWS Cleveland, OH
NWS Cleveland, OH issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 20, 1986, 1:38 PM EDT for Cameron County, Elk County, McKean County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 52 min. 5 reports 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, 1:38 PM EDT (17:38 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 20, 1986, 2:30 PM EDT
- In force
- 52 min
- Issued by
- NWS Cleveland, OH
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Cameron County, PA, Elk County, PA, McKean 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 1:45 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Elk, PA | |
| Jul 20, 2:00 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Elk, PA | |
| Jul 20, 2:00 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Cameron, PA | |
| Jul 20, 2:00 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Mckean, PA | |
| Jul 20, 2:00 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Cameron, 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, 5.6 hours before the alert went out and 154 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KERI 201718 SVRERI PAC053-083-023-121-047-123-201830- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ERIE PA 118 PM EDT SUN JUL 20 1986 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 230 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA...FOREST...MCKEAN...ELK...VENANGO...CAMERON AND WARREN WEATHER RADAR SHOWS NUMEROUS SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER THESE COUNTIES MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 TO 25 MILES AN HOUR. THESE STORMS ARE CAUSING WIND GUSTS TO 60 MILES AN HOUR.. ALONG WITH SEVERE LIGHTNING WHICH HAVE CAUSED NUMEROUS REPORTS OF POWER OUTAGES AND DAMAGE ACROSS THESE COUNTIES. THESE STORMS HAVE BEEN ACCOMPANIED BY VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS WHICH HAVE CAUSED 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, 12:45 PM EDT, 53 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 10:38 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CLE | Warren | 82 min |
| Jul 20, 12:03 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CLE | McKean, Warren | 57 min |
| Jul 20, 12:12 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CLE | Venango | 78 min |
| Jul 20, 12:47 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CLE | Forest | 58 min |
| Jul 20, 1:38 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CLE | Forest, Venango, Warren | 52 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.