Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

July 8, 1986Allegheny County, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 8, 1986, 12:55 PM EDT for Allegheny County, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 65 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 8, 1986, 12:55 PM EDT (16:55 UTC)
Expired
Jul 8, 1986, 2:00 PM EDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Allegheny County, PA, Westmoreland 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

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 4.9 hours before the alert went out and 32 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1986-07-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 327 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1986-07-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 58 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
327 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-47 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
893 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
58 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
73 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 KPIT 081655
SVRPIT
PAC003-129-081800-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
1255 PM EDT TUE JUL 8 1986
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 200 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF
 
PENNSYLVANIA.. ALLEGHENY.. WESTMORELAND
 
AT 1 PM WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER
ALLEGHENY AND WESTMORELAND COUNTIES MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.
THERE MAY ALSO BE REPEATED HEAVY RAINS FROM THESE STORMS WHICH MAY
CAUSE FLOODING.

THERE HAS BEEN WIND DAMAGE REPORTED FROM THESE STORMS WITHIN THE
PAST HOUR.
 
THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL.. HEAVY RAINS..
DAMAGING WINDS HAND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.
 
LAG

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, Jul 8, 11:45 AM EDT, 1 hour 10 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA
1140 AM EDT TUE JUL 08 1986

WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA IS GOING TO BE BESIEGED BY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS
SOMETIME THIS AFTERNOON OR TONIGHT. HOWEVER..BECAUSE OF THE SCATTERED
NATURE OF THESE STORMS..IT CANNOT YET BE DETERMINED SPECIFICALLY WHEN
AND WHERE THESE STORMS WILL OCCUR.

SO WHILE OUT IN THE HEAT AND HUMIDITY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING..
KEEP THESE SAFETY RULES IN MIND.

DESPITE ALL THE DESTRUCTION THAT HIGH WIND AND FLOODING MAKE..
LIGHTNING KILLS AS MANY. SO WHENEVER A HEAVY THUNDERSTORM APPROACHES..
FIND REFUGE INDOORS IF POSSIBLE. IF THE STORM HAS HIGH WIND..
GO TO THE BASEMENT AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. IF YOU ARE CONFRONTED
BY FLOODING..STAY AWAY FROM IT AS THE FAST MOVING WATER CAN SWEEP YOU
AWAY. SO DONT GO THROUGH FLOODED WATERS ON YOUR WAY TO HIGHER GROUND.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL BE CLOSELY MONITORING THIS SITUATION.
STAY TUNED FOR LATER ADVISORIES.
.
GIORDANO

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 8, 11:53 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZAllegheny, Butler67 min
Jul 8, 12:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZBeaver40 min
Jul 8, 1:47 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZBeaver43 min
Jul 8, 2:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZAllegheny56 min
Jul 8, 3:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZWestmoreland56 min
Jul 8, 4:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZAllegheny, Beaver, Washington56 min
Jul 8, 4:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZFayette, Somerset56 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.