Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 1987
Tornado Warning 2, NWS Pittsburgh, PA
NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this tornado warning at Jun 29, 1987, 7:00 PM EDT for Fayette County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 60 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
- Jun 29, 1987, 7:00 PM EDT (23:00 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 29, 1987, 8:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 60 min
- Issued by
- NWS Pittsburgh, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Fayette 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 29, 8:00 PM EDT | Hail 1 | Fayette, 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, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 67 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1685 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 30 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 122 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 129 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KPIT 292259 TORPIT PAC051-300000- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 700 PM EDT MON JUN 29 1987 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING UNTIL 800 PM EDT FOR FAYETTE COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA. AT 659 PM A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS REPORTED 4 MILES EAST OF FINLEYVILLE IN WASHINGTON COUNTY. FINLEYVILLE IS 12 MILES EAST OF WASHINGTON PA. THIS FUNNEL CLOUD IS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35 MPH. THE STORM WILL AFFECT SOUTHERN WESTMORELAND COUNTY AS WELL AS FAYETTE. AN EARLIER TORNADO WARNING IS STILL IN EFFECT TIL 730 PM FOR WESTMORELAND COUNTY PENNSYLVANIA.
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, Jun 29, 4:42 PM EDT, 2 hours 18 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA 440 PM EDT MON JUN 29 1987 ...HUGE THUNDERSTORM HEADED FOR THE AREA JUST NORTH OF PITTSBURGH... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT TIL 10 PM FOR MUCH OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANAI...INCLUDING PITTSBURGH AND ERIE. AT 440 PM...RADAR SHOWED A VERY INTENSE THUNDERSTORM OVER MINERVA OHIO. IT IS MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. THIS STORM WILL REACH THE NORTHERN PANHANDLE OF WEST VIRGINIA BETWEEN 5 AND 530 PM. THEN IT WILL REACH PENNSYLVANIA COUNTIES OF BEAVER...BUTLER...AND POSSIBLY ALLEGHENY BETWEEN 530 AND 6 PM. VERY STRONG WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...HEAVY RAIN...AND HAIL WILL ACCOMPANY THIS THUNDERSTORM. THIS THUNDERSTORM MAY SPAWN8 A TORNADO. LISTEN FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS AND OTHER STATEMENTS.
Special weather statement, Jun 29, 5:53 PM EDT, 1 hour 7 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA 545 PM EDT MON JUN 29 1987 THESE COUNTIES IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 282... ERIE...CRAWFORD...MERCER...LAWRENCE...AND VENANGO. A NEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED EAST OF PITTSBURGH. COMBINING BOTH WATCHES...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THESE COUNTIES OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA UNTIL 10 PM... ALLEGHENY ARMSTRONG BEAVER BEDFORD BLAIR BUTLER CAMBRIA CLARION CENTRE CLEARFIELD FAYETTE FOREST FULTON GREENE HUNTINGDON INDIANA JEFFERSON JUNIATA MCKEAN MIFFLIN SOMERSET WARREN WASHINGTON AND WESTMORELAND. LARGE HAIL HAS BEEN REPORTED IN WEIRTON WEST VIRGINIA.
Special weather statement, Jun 29, 6:15 PM EDT, 45 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA 615 PM EDT MON JUN 29 1987 MORE COUNTIES IN NORTH PENNSYLVANIA HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 282... CLARION...FOREST...JEFFERSON...MCKEAN...AND WARREN. COMBINING BOTH WATCHES...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THESE COUNTIES OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA UNTIL 10 PM... ALLEGHENY ARMSTRONG BEAVER BEDFORD BLAIR BUTLER CAMBRIA CENTRE CLEARFIELD FAYETTE FULTON GREENE HUNTINGDON INDIANA JUNIATA MIFFLIN SOMERSET WASHINGTON AND WESTMORELAND. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 7PM FOR THE COUNTIES OF ALLEGHENY..WASHINGTON..WESTMORELAND.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 29, 4:49 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Beaver | 61 min |
| Jun 29, 5:09 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Allegheny, Washington | 66 min |
| Jun 29, 6:02 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Allegheny, Washington, Westmoreland | 58 min |
| Jun 29, 6:29 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Washington, Westmoreland | 61 min |
| Jun 29, 7:35 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Greene | 70 min |
| Jun 29, 7:52 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Greene | 68 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1987Every tornado warning in 1987Tornadoes in 1987
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.