Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 134, NWS Cleveland, OH

September 26, 1986Erie County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 26, 1986, 8:35 AM EDT for Erie County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 55 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
Sep 26, 1986, 8:35 AM EDT (12:35 UTC)
Expired
Sep 26, 1986, 9:30 AM EDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Cleveland, OH
Area
Whole counties

County Erie 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
Sep 26, 9:00 AM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Erie, 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, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 146 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 1986-09-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 888 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 1986-09-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 116 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
888 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-94 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
679 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
116 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
149 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
5.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KERI 261235
SVRERI
PAC049-261330-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ERIE PA
835 AM EDT FRI SEP 26 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 930 AM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES OF

NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA...ERIE AND AND ADJACENT LAKE ERIE WATERS

AT 830 THIS MORNING WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE PENNSYLVAVNIA LAKESHORE NEAR THE
AIRPORT MOVING EASTWARD AT 30 MILES AND HOUR.

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

 THIS STORM WILL CAUSE FLOODING OF STREETS AND LOW LYING AREAS.

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, Sep 26, 4:44 AM EDT, 3 hours 51 minutes before
SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR OHIO
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
445 AM EDT FRI SEP 26 1986

THE NATIONAL SEVERE STORMS FORECAST CENTER IN KANSAS CITY SAYS THAT
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXrPECTED IN OHIO TODAY OR TONIGHT.

MAXIMUK
Special weather statement, Sep 26, 8:23 AM EDT, 12 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ERIE, PA
816 AM EDT FRI SEP 26 1986

       ...HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE PENNSYLVANIA LAKESHORE...

AT 815 THIS MORNING HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING ALONG
THE PENNSYLVANIA LAKESHORE AND THROUGHOUT MOST OF ERIE COUNTY IN
NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA.

THESE HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FORMED ALONG A WARM FRONT WHICH
LIES ALONG THE LAKESHORE THIS MORNING. THESE SHOWERS AND THUNDERLSTORMS
ARE PRODUCING VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS WHICH ARE CAUSING FLOODING OF STREETS
AND OTHER LOW LYING AREAS...GUSTY WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE ALSO
BEING PRODUCED BY THESE STORMS.

THE STORMS ARE CURRENTLY MOVING TOWARDS THE EAST
Special weather statement, Sep 26, 8:25 AM EDT, 10 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ERIE, PA
823 AM EDT FRI SEP 26 1986

       ...HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE PENNSYLVANIA LAKESHORE...

AT 815 THIS MORNING HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING ALONG
THE PENNSYLVANIA LAKESHORE AND THROUGHOUT MOST OF ERIE COUNTY IN
NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA.

THESE HEAVY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FORMED ALONG A WARM FRONT WHICH
LIES ALONG THE LAKESHORE THIS MORNING. THESE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
ARE PRODUCING VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS WHICH ARE CAUSING FLOODING OF STREETS
AND OTHER LOW LYING AREAS...GUSTY WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE ALSO
BEING PRODUCED BY THESE STORMS.

THE STORMS ARE MOVING TOWARDS THE EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.
N
PARRISH

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 26, 1:17 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEErie58 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.