Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Cleveland, OH

February 16, 1990Erie County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 16, 1990, 3:22 PM EST for Erie County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 53 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: Feb 16, 1990, 3:22 PM EST (20:22 UTC)
Expired: Feb 16, 1990, 4:15 PM EST
In force: 53 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
Feb 16, 3:45 PM EST	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, 8.4 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.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 534 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 102 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 152 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 200 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KERI 162022
SVRERI
PAC049-162115-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ERIE PA
322 PM EST FRI FEB 16 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 415 PM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTY

   IN THE NORTHWEST PART OF PENNSYLVANIA
      SOUTHEAST ERIE

AT 319 PM EST RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM MOVING INTO
ERIE COUNTY ABOUT 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WATERFORD PA. THE STORM
WAS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.

WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEAOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND NEAR WINDOWS.  DO NOT USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES.  MOTORISTS SHOULD AVOID LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...FIND SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.

 REEDY

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, Feb 16, 2:39 PM EST, 43 minutes before

PAZ001-002-003-162100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ERIE, PA
239 PM EST FRI FEB 16 1990

...THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA...

A COLD FRONT WITH SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS IS MOVING ACROSS NORTHEAST OHIO
AND INTO NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA.  THE WIND IS SWITCHING TO THE WEST AND
INCREASING IN SPEED TO 20 TO 30 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS.

AT 221 PM EST A GUST OF 44 MILES AN HOUR WAS RECORDED AT ERIE INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT.

THESE STRONG GUSTY WINDS COMBINED WITH THE CONDITIONS OF TREES AND UTILITY
POLES IN THE ERIE AREA COULD PRODUCE MORE POWER OUTAGES AND DOWNED TREES.

PERSONS SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT FOR FLYING DEBRIS AND TAKE COVER AS NECESSARY.
STAY TUNED ToO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER UPDATES.
REEDY

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Feb 16, 3:01 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CLE	Crawford	59 min
Feb 16, 4:23 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CLE	Venango	37 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1990 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1990

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.