Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 98, NWS Cleveland, OH

July 18, 1986Crawford County, Erie County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 18, 1986, 11:44 PM EDT for Crawford County, Erie County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 76 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 18, 1986, 11:44 PM EDT (03:44 UTC)
Expired
Jul 19, 1986, 1:00 AM EDT
In force
76 min
Issued by
NWS Cleveland, OH
Area
Whole counties

Counties Crawford County, PA, 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
Jul 18, 11:51 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 00:00Z, 3.7 hours before the alert went out and 162 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 00:00Z on 1986-07-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 698 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 00:00Z on 1986-07-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 113 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
698 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-106 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1256 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
113 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
155 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
3.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KERI 190344
SVRERI
PAC049-039-190500-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ERIE PA
1144 PM EDT FRI JUL 18 1986

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

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

 AT 1135 PM ERIE WEATHER RADAR INDICATED TWO SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS IN ERIE COUNTY..ONE WAS MOVING ONSHORE WEST
OF NORTHEAST AND ANOTHER WAS NEAR WATERFORD IN SOUTHERN ERIE
COUNTY..THESE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT
25 MILES AN HOUR.

 THIS STORM IS ACCOMPANIED BY INTENSE LIGHTNING AND STRONG GUSTY

 WINDS.

 THESE STORMS CONTAIN VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS WHICH MAY CAUSE SOME
 FLOODING..

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 18, 9:46 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLEMcKean2 hr
Jul 18, 10:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEMcKean, Warren86 min
Jul 19, 12:02 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEWarren58 min
Jul 19, 1:12 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLEWarren3 hr

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.