Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 1986
Tornado Warning 4, NWS Pittsburgh, PA
NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this tornado warning at Sep 30, 1986, 5:46 PM EDT for Butler County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 64 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, 5:46 PM EDT (21:46 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 30, 1986, 6:50 PM EDT
- In force
- 64 min
- Issued by
- NWS Pittsburgh, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Butler 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 30, 5:50 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Butler, 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
Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 58 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 461 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -37 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 871 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 33 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 212 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 199 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.7
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KPIT 302146 TORPIT PAC019-302250- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 546 PM EDT TUE SEP 30 1986 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 650 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF PENNSYLVANIA.. BUTLER AT 545 PM STATE POLICE REPORTED AT FUNNEL CLOUD FIVE MILES EAST OF NEW CASTLE IN LAWRENCE COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA. THIS STORM IS MOVING EAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR. ON ITS CURRENT PATH THIS STORM WILL PAS NEAR SLIPPERY ROCK IN BUTLER COUNTY. IF YOU ARE TRAPPED OUTDOORS AWAY FROM SAFE SHELTER GO TO A DITCH OR LOW AREA. GET AS LOW AS POSSIBLE AND PROTECT YOUR HEAD AND CHEST. BE CAREFUL OF FLOODING IN DRAINAGE DITC;HES AND STORM CULVERTS. WJD
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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, 5:35 PM EDT, 11 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA
532 PM EDT TUE SEP 30 1986
...LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING TOWARD BUTLER AND BEAVER
COUNTIES IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA...
A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING OUT OF EAST CENTRAL WILL MOVE
ACROSS BUTLER AND BEAVER COUNTIES BETWEEN 545 PM AND 645 PM. SOME
OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY BE ACCOMPANIED BY DAMAGING WINDS..HAIL AND
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH AND
BY 700 PM WILL PUSH EAST INTO ARMSTRONG..ALLEGHENY..AND WASHINGTON
COUNTIES.
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM FOR MUCH OF
WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA.
STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST SEVE7RE WEATHER WARNINGS
AND WATCHES.
DAVISThe office that day
Everything else NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 30, 5:58 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Beaver | 42 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.