Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 4, NWS State College, PA

May 31, 1986Northumberland County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 31, 1986, 7:35 PM EDT for Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 55 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 31, 1986, 7:35 PM EDT (23:35 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1986, 8:30 PM EDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Northumberland County, PA

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 220 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 1986-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 518 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 1986-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 4 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
518 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-106 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1192 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
29 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHAR 312336
SVRHAR
PAC097-010030-

BULLETIN-IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HARRISBURG PA.
735 PM EDT SAT MAY 31 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 PM EDT  FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA... NORTHUMBERLAND.


NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATES A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
IN NORTHERN NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY. LARGE HAIL WAS REPORTED WITH THIS
THUNDERSTORM. IT IS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

PEOPLE IN THE WARNING AREA SHOULD PREPARE FOR STRONG WINDS..HAIL..HEAVY
RAINS AND LIGHTNING. SHOULD THE STORM APPROACH YOU..SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER.

 PN

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, May 31, 5:17 PM EDT, 2 hours 18 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HARRISBURG PA.
510 PM EDT    SAT  MAY 31 1986

...HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS IN TIOGA AND BRADFOR COUNTIES...

AT 500 PM EDT THE HARRISBURG RADAR WAS OBSERVING HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS
IN TIOGA AND BRADFORD COUNTIES IN PENNSYLVANIA.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE HEAVY RAINS..GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL.
THEY ARE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

IF THREATNING WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE OBSERVED..FIND A SECURE AREA
UNTIL~ THE PASSAGE OF THESE STORMS.

END
WSO HAR NEFF

The office that day

Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 31, 6:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLycoming55 min
May 31, 6:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPTioga36 min
May 31, 6:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLycoming65 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.