Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 16, NWS Cleveland, OH

May 9, 1988Crawford County, Erie County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 9, 1988, 6:45 PM EDT for Crawford County, Erie County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 60 min. 2 reports 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
May 9, 1988, 6:45 PM EDT (22:45 UTC)
Expired
May 9, 1988, 7:45 PM EDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Cleveland, OH
Area
Whole counties

Counties Crawford County, PA, Erie 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
May 9, 7:18 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Crawford, PA
May 9, 7:21 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50Erie, 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, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 166 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 1988-05-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1988-05-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 114 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1751 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
114 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
117 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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 9, 1:40 PM EDT, 5 hours 5 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
140 PM EDT MON MAY 9 1988

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR WESTERN OHIO UNTIL 7 PM EDT.

AT 135 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS
FROM FLINT MICHGIAN TO FORT WAYNE INDANIA. FORT WAYNE REPORTED ONE
INCH HAIL WHEN A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PASSED TO THEIR SOUTH. THE STORMS
WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH AND WILL SPREAD INTO WESTERN OHIO THIS
AFTERNOON. THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE LARGE HAIL
DAMAGING WINDS... FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND TORNADOES. PEOPLE IN THE WATCH
AREA SHOULD STAY ALERT TO CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND THE POSSIBLE
ISSUANCE OF WARNING.

JOHNSON
Special weather statement, May 9, 2:40 PM EDT, 4 hours 5 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
240 PM EDT MON MAY 9 1988

TORNADO WATCHES REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR WESTERN OHIO UNTIL 7 PM EDT AND
FOR NORTHEASTERN OHIO UNTIL 9 PM EDT.

AT 235 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SCATTERED TO BROKEN
THUNDERSTORM FROM DETROIT MICHGIAN TO 30 MILES WEST OF DAYTON OHIO. THE
STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH AND THEY WILL BE NEAR A SANDUSKY
TO SPRINGFIELD LINE BY 400 PM.

THREE QUARTER INCH HAIL HAS BEEN REPORTED OVER NORTHWEST PUTMAN COUNTY.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE LARGE HAIL... DAMAGING
WINDS... FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND TORNADOES. PEOPLE IN THE WATCH AREA
SHOULD STAY ALERT TO CHANGING WEATYHER CONDITIONS AND THE POSSIBLE
ISSUANCE OF WARNINGS.

JOHNSON
Special weather statement, May 9, 5:34 PM EDT, 1 hour 11 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE YOUNGSTOWN OH
535 PM EDT MAY 9 1988

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR NORTHEASTERN OHIO UNTIL 9PM.
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT TONIGHT FOR
WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA.

AT 525 PM A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM NEAR CLEVELAND TO
COLUMBUS.  DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL HAVE BEEN REPORTED WITH SOME
OF THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS IN THE LINE.  THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS
IS MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH AND SHOULD MOVE INTO THE GREATER YOUNGSTOWN
AREA AROUND 700 PM.

PEOPLE IN THE AREA SHOULD STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO... LOCAL
RADIO STATIONS... OR LOCAL TELEVISION STATATIONS FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS
OR STATEMENTS ON THESE STORMS.

TAYLOR
Special weather statement, May 9, 5:43 PM EDT, 1 hour 2 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE YOUNGSTOWN OH
535 PM EDT MAY 9 1988

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT TONIGHT FOR
NORTHEASTERN OHIO AND WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA.

AT 525 PM A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM NEAR CLEVELAND TO
COLUMBUS.  DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL HAVE BEEN REPORTED WITH SOME
OF THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS IN THE LINE.  THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS
IS MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH AND SHOULD MOVE INTO THE GREATER YOUNGSTOWN
AREA AROUND 700 PM.

PEOPLE IN THE AREA SHOULD STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO... LOCAL
RADIO STATIONS... OR LOCAL TELEVISION STATATIONS FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS
OR STATEMENTS ON THESE STORMS.

TAYLOR
...CORRECTED TO CHANGE TORNADO WATCH TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH...
Special weather statement, May 9, 6:27 PM EDT, 18 minutes before
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The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 9, 1:22 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEFulton68 min
May 9, 2:16 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEHenry44 min
May 9, 2:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEPutnam32 min
May 9, 2:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLELucas30 min
May 9, 3:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEErie, Huron50 min
May 9, 4:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEMedina46 min
May 9, 5:18 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLECuyahoga, Summit57 min
May 9, 5:22 PM EDTTornado WarningCLECuyahoga68 min
May 9, 5:26 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEWayne64 min
May 9, 5:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEGeauga55 min
May 9, 5:47 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLELake43 min
May 9, 5:47 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLECoshocton58 min
May 9, 6:09 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEAshtabula51 min
May 9, 6:26 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEGuernsey64 min
May 9, 7:17 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEMercer43 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1988Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1988

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.