Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS State College, PA
NWS State College, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 31, 1989, 3:23 PM EST for Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 37 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
- Mar 31, 1989, 3:23 PM EST (20:23 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 31, 1989, 4:00 PM EST
- In force
- 37 min
- Issued by
- NWS State College, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Lancaster 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 31, 3:30 PM EST | Thunderstorm Wind 52 | Lancaster, 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, 8.4 hours before the alert went out and 157 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
- 715 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 52 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 54 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 168 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 KHAR 312025
SVRHAR
PAC071-312100-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HARRISBURG PA
323 PM EST FRI MAR 31 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HARRISBURG HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 400 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN SOUTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA
...NORTHERN LANCASTER
AT 320 PM EST THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR WAS OBSERVING A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR COLUMBIA IN WESTERN LANCASTER COUNTY. THIS
STORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH AND WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY
STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND SMALL HAIL.
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUIL DING. 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.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, Mar 31, 2:08 PM EST, 1 hour 15 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HARRISBURG PA. 205 PM EST FRI MAR 31 1989 ...THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH THE WESTERN PORTION OF THE LOWER SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY... AT 2 PM THIS AFTERNOON RADAR SHOWED A BAND OF HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS MOVING OUT OF FRANKLIN COUNTY INTO WESTERN CUMBERLAND COUNTY. THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE AROUND 10 MILES WEST OF NEWVILLE. THESE STORMS WERE EMBEDDED IN AN AREA OF SHOWERS THAT COVERED MUCH OF THE MIDDL|E AND LOWER SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY. THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS...BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING MAINLY NORTHEAST AROUND 35 MPH. END WSO HAR JORDAN
Special weather statement, Mar 31, 3:02 PM EST, 21 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HARRISBURG PA. 300 PM EST FRI MAR 31 1989 ...HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH THE HARRISBURG METROPOLITAN AREA... AT 255 PM RADAR SHOWED HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH THE HARRISBURG AREA. WE HAVE RECEIVED REPORTS OF SMALL HAIL AT MARYVILLE AND IN HAMPTON TOWNSHIP IN MECHANICSBURG. ALONG WITH SMALL HAIL...THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND FREQUENT LIGHT- NING. OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING IN LEBANON...YORK AND LANCASTER COUNTIES. THESE STORMS WERE EMBEDDED IN A LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS THAT COVERED MOST OF THE MIDDLE AND LOWER SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY. THEY WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AROUND 35 MPH. END WSO HAR JORDAN
Special weather statement, Mar 31, 3:22 PM EST, 1 minute before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HARRISBURG PA. 315 PM EST FRI MAR 31 1989 ...HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH THE LOWER SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY... HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE ACROSS THE LOWER SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY. A BAND OF HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS NOW REACH FROM NORTHERN DAUPHIN COUNTY..SOUTH INTO SOUTHERN YORK COUNTY NEAR STEWARTSOWN. THE HEAVIEST STORMS WERE IN EASTERN LANCASTER COUNTY AND NORTHERN YORK COUNTIES. THESE STORMS HAVE A HISTORY OF SMALL HAIL...HEAVY DOWNPOURS...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST 35 TO 40 MPH. END WSO JORDAN
The office that day
Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 31, 3:06 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | York | 39 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1989Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1989
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.