Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 147, NWS Cleveland, OH

September 30, 1986Erie County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 30, 1986, 2:40 PM EDT for Erie County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 65 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 30, 1986, 2:40 PM EDT (18:40 UTC)
Expired
Sep 30, 1986, 3:45 PM EDT
In force
65 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 30, 3:15 PM 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, 6.7 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 1986-09-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 33 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 1986-09-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 116 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
33 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
614 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
116 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
236 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KERI 301840
SVRERI
PAC049-301945-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ERIE PA
240 PM EDT TUE SEP 30 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND 
SPECIAL MARINE WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 345 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE 
FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA...ERIE
...THIS WARNING ALSO INCLUDES THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS FOR THE
COUNTY JUST MENTION+ED

AT 235 PM EDT ERIE WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDER
STORM MOVING RAPIDLY EASTWARD THEU ERIE COUNTY. WIND
GUSTS TO 61 MPH WERE REPORTED AT THE AIRPORT.

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

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 30, 2:00 PM EDT, 40 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
200 PM EDT TUE SEP 30 1986

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAVE MOVED INTO NORTH CENTRAL OHIO.

AT 155 PM EDT WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FROM
OVER LAKE ERIE INLAND THROUGH AVON LAKE TO SOUTHERN LORAIN COUNTY.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE PRODUCED VERY HEAVY RAIN AND WINDS OF 30 TO 40
MPH AS THEY MOVE THROUGH. AS THE STORMS APPROACH THE SKY BECOMES VERY
DARK AND THE HEAVY RAIN MOVES IN RAPIDLY.

OVER ONE-HALF INCH OF RAIN FELL IN BAY VIEW OHIO IN ABOUT 10 MINUTES.

PEOPLE IN THE GREATER CLEVELAND AREA SHOULD BE READY FOR THE HEAVY
RAINS AND GUSTY WINDS. THE RAINS WILL PROABABLY CAUSE SOME FLOODING OF g
STREETS AND AREAS WITH POOR DRAINAGE.

A SPECIAL MARINE WARNING IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 345 PM EDT FOR LAKE ERIE
FROM SANDUSKY TO FAIRPORT HARBOR.

MAXIMUK
Special weather statement, Sep 30, 2:35 PM EDT, 5 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MANSFIELD OH
235 PM EDT TUE SEP 30 1986

AT 230PM EDT WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A NEARLY SOLID LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS
FROM CLEVELAND...TO BUCYRUS..TO ABOUT DAYTON OHIO.

 THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.
AT THIS RATE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE OVER THE MANSFIELD
AREA BY 3PM EDT.

 BRIEF GUSTY WINDS...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS AND SMALL HAIL IS POSSIBLE AS
THE THUNDERSTORMS MOVE OVERHEAD.

BANYAS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 30, 3:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLECrawford63 min
Sep 30, 4:32 PM EDTTornado WarningCLECrawford, Erie, Warren58 min
Sep 30, 5:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLECrawford33 min
Sep 30, 5:28 PM EDTTornado WarningCLECrawford, Erie, Warren31 min
Sep 30, 5:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLELawrence58 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.