Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Cleveland, OH

September 30, 1986Crawford County, Erie County, Warren County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this tornado warning at Sep 30, 1986, 4:32 PM EDT for Crawford County, Erie County, Warren County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 58 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, 4:32 PM EDT (20:32 UTC)
Expired
Sep 30, 1986, 5:30 PM EDT
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Cleveland, OH
Area
Whole counties

Counties Crawford County, PA, Erie County, PA, Warren 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, 5:30 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Crawford, 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, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 150 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°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 KPIT 302042
TORERI
PAC049-039-123-302130-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ERIE PA
432 PM EDT TUE SEP 30 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA...EASTERN ERIE...EASTERN CRAWFORD AND WARREN

AT 420 OM EDT A TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND NEAR MILL
VILLAGE...ALONG THE ERIE AND CRAWFORD COUNTY LINE...	MOVING
EAST AROUND 35 MILES AN HOUR.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 30, 2:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEErie65 min
Sep 30, 3:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLECrawford63 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

Tornado Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1986Every tornado warning in 1986Tornadoes 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.