Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 6, NWS State College, PA
NWS State College, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 17, 1988, 3:48 PM EDT for York County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 57 min. 3 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 17, 1988, 3:48 PM EDT (19:48 UTC)
- Expired
- May 17, 1988, 4:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 57 min
- Issued by
- NWS State College, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
County York 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 17, 3:48 PM EDT | Hail 1.75 | York, PA | |
| May 17, 4:24 PM EDT | Hail 0.75 | York, PA | |
| May 17, 4:40 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | York, 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
Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 122 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
- 98 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -94 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 782 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 21 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 40 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -47 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
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 17, 2:44 PM EDT, 1 hour 4 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HARRISBURG PA 240 PM EDT TUE MAY 17 1988 PLEASE DO NOT USE AFTER 4 PM EDT ...FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR ADAMS COUNTY UNTIL 5PM... ...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR FULTON FRANKLIN AND BEDFORD COUNTIES UNTIL MIDNIGHT... AT 230 PM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR WAS OBSERVING A AREA OF SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY AND THE SOUTHCENTRAL AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS OF PA SOUTH ACROSS THE WESTERN PANHANDLE OF MARYLAND AND THE NORTHEAST PANHANDLE OF WEST VIRGINIA. THE HEAVEST STORMS WERE IN WESTERN MIFFLIN, IN WESTERN CUMBERLAND AND NORTHERN ADAMS AND FULTON COUNTIES. THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 15 TO 20 MPH AND COULD BE PRODUCING SOME LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS, HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS. HEAVY RAIN AND HAIL HAS BEEN REPORTED IN ADAMS COUNTY. WSO HAR HURLEY
Special weather statement, May 17, 3:40 PM EDT, 8 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HARRISBURG PA 335 PM EDT TUE MAY 17 1988 PLEASE DO NOT USE AFTER 5 PM EDT ...FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR ADAMS COUNTY UNTIL 5PM... ...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR FULTON FRANKLIN AND BEDFORD COUNTIES UNTIL MIDNIGHT... AT 325 PM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR WAS OBSERVING A AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE WESTERN AREAS OF THE SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY AND THE SOUTHCENTRAL AND CENTRAL MOUNTAINS OF PA SOUTH ACROSS THE PANHANDLE OF MARYLAND AND WEST VIRGINIA INTO NORTHWESTERN VIRGINIA. THE HEAVIEST STORMS WERE IN CENTRE, EASTERN ADAMS AND FRANKLIN COUNTIES IN PA AND IN SOUTHERN FREDERICK COUNTY IN VIRGINIA. THE SHOWERS AND (THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 15 TO 20 MPH AND COULD BE PRODUCING SOME LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS, HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS. WSO WSO HURLEY
The office that day
Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 17, 2:04 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Adams | 6 hr |
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.