Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 39, NWS Cleveland, OH
NWS Cleveland, OH issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 16, 1988, 5:02 PM EDT for Erie County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 58 min. 5 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
- Jul 16, 1988, 5:02 PM EDT (21:02 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 16, 1988, 6:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 58 min
- Issued by
- NWS Cleveland, OH
- Area
- Whole counties
County 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 16, 5:12 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Erie, PA | |
| Jul 16, 5:15 PM EDT | Hail 1.75 | Erie, PA | |
| Jul 16, 5:30 PM EDT | Hail 1.75 | Erie, PA | |
| Jul 16, 5:45 PM EDT | Hail 1 | Erie, PA | |
| Jul 16, 5:58 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Erie, 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
Buffalo Intl Airport, NY (KBUF), launched 12:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 146 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
- 17 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -395 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1194 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 53 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 75 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 155 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 KERI 162105
SVRERI
PAC049-162200-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ERIE PA
502 PM EDT SAT JUL 16 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ERIE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 600 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA
...ERIE
AT 456 PM EDT SKY WARN OBSERVERS REPORTED GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL NEAR
ALBION IN ERIE COUNTY. RADAR CONFIRMED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AT THAT
LOCATION. THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 30 MILES AN
HOUR.
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING. DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS. DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED. MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING. DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.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 16, 2:19 PM EDT, 2 hours 43 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ERIE, PA 217 PM EDT SAT JUL 16 1988 ...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ACROSS NORTHWEST PA... AT 215 PM RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN ASHTABULA COUNTY OHIO AND EXTENDING ACROSS NORTHERN CRAWFORD COUNTY PA. TO NEAR CORRY IN ERI COUNTY PA. THESE WERE MOVING TOWARD THE EAST NORTH EAST AT ABOUT 20 MILES AN HOUR. AS THESE STORMS DEVELOP THEY MAY PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS HEAVY DOWNPOURS A)ND POSSIBLY SOME HAIL. PERSONS IN THE VICINITY OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION AND SEEK SHELTER IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR LOCATION. REEDY
Special weather statement, Jul 16, 3:24 PM EDT, 1 hour 38 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH 325 PM EDT SAT JUL 16 19885 SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE NOT DEVELOPED OVER OHIO YET THIS AFTERNOON... BUT THEY SEEM TO BE GETTING CLOSER. NORTHERN INDIANA AND SOUTHERN MICHIGAN WILL BE UNDER A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL EIGHT O' CLOCK THIS EVENING. A SECOND SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH WILL BE IN EFFECT FOR NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA AND WESTERN NEW YORK UNTIL TEN O' CLOCK. AT 315 THIS AFTERNOON...RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHERN ONTARIO. GOLF BALL-SIZED HAIL AND INTENSE RAINFALL HAVE BEEN REPORTED WITH THOSE STORMS. MORE THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER THE NORTHWESTERN CORNER OF PENNSYLVANIA. ALL OF THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR. THE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE ALL DEVELOPED IN VERY UNSTABLE AIR--JUST LIKE THE HOT...MUGGY AIR OVER OHIO THIS AFTERNOON. A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO OHIO TONIGHT...AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AHEAD OF THAT FRONT. THE SEVERE WEATHER WILL PROBABLY HIT NORTHERN OHIO FIRST...AND PEOPLE THERE SHOULD BE PREPARED. BE SURE TO LISTEN FOR THE LATEST FORECASTS AND WARNINGS FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE...AND KEEP AND EYE ON THE SKY. IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. PEROUTKA
Special weather statement, Jul 16, 4:29 PM EDT, 33 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ERIE, PA 430 PM EDT SAT JUL 16 1988 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 296 CONTINUES FOR PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND NORTHWEST PENNSLYVANIA AND A LARGE PART OF CENTRAL AND WESTERN NEW YORK AS WELL AS PORTIONS OF EASTERN LAKE ERIE AND SOUTHERN LAKE ONTARIO UNTIL 10 PM TONIGHT... ...THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO MOVE EAST ACROSS NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA... AT 425 PM EDT RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM TITUSVILLE IN VENANGO COUNTY EAST TO POTTER COUNTY. AND FROM CATTARAUGS AND ALLEGANY COUNTIES IN NEW YORK SOUTH TO ELK AND CAMERON COUNTIES IN PENNSLYVANIA. THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND POSSIBLE HAIL WERE LOCATEjD NEAR TITUSVILLE AND JUST SOUTH OF SHEFFIELD. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING TOWARD THE EAST AT ABOUT 30 MILES AN HOUR. IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES YOU AREA EXERCISE CAUTION AND SEEK SHELTER. REEDY
The office that day
Everything else NWS Cleveland, OH issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 16, 2:52 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CLE | Erie, Warren | 68 min |
| Jul 16, 5:14 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CLE | Elk, Forest | 46 min |
| Jul 16, 5:14 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CLE | Cameron | 46 min |
| Jul 16, 6:25 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CLE | Warren | 65 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.