Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 101, NWS Pittsburgh, PA
NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 2, 1990, 4:45 PM EDT for Somerset County, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 75 min. 4 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
- Sep 2, 1990, 4:45 PM EDT (20:45 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 2, 1990, 6:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 75 min
- Issued by
- NWS Pittsburgh, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Somerset County, PA, Westmoreland 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2, 5:05 PM EDT | Hail 0.75 | Somerset, PA | |
| Sep 2, 5:30 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Somerset, PA | |
| Sep 2, 5:35 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Westmoreland, PA | |
| Sep 2, 5:40 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Westmoreland, 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, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 78 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
- 692 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -39 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 944 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 18 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 90 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 0.7
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KPIT 022045 SVRPIT PAC059-111-129-WVC069-022200- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 445 PM EDT SUN SEP 2 1990 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 600 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA...GREENE...SOMERSET AND WESTMORELAND PANHANDLE OF WEST VIRGINIA...OHIO AT 443 PM RADAR SHOWED A PAIR OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. ONE WAS IN SOUTHEASTERN JEFFERSON COUNTY OHIO...JUST NORTHWEST OF THE VILLAGE OF TILTONSVILLE OHIO. AND THE OTHER SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS A FEW MILES SOUTH OF LATROBE PENNSYLVNIA IN WESTMORELAND COUNTY. BOTH STORMS ARE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING MEANS SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE IMMINENT OR IN PROGRESS. THESE STORMS WILL HAVE DAMAGING WIND..HAIL ..HEAVY RAIN..AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES..GO TO A SAFE PLACE IMMEDIATELY.
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, Sep 2, 3:35 PM EDT, 1 hour 10 minutes before
PAZ015-WVZ001-022200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 330 PM EDT SUN SEP 02 1990 ...SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY DOWNPOURS OVER SOUTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA AND THE NORTHERN PANHANDLE OF WEST VIRGINIA... AT 325 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SHOWERS AND EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING...IN PENNSYLVANIA...FROM VANDERGRIFT TO THE NORTH HILLS OF PITTSBURGH TO HANCOCK WEST VIRGINIA AND WESTWARD INTO OHIO. THESE STORMS ARE MOVING VERY SLOWLY AND WILL DROP ALOT OF RAIN IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. AN INCH OF RAIN IN AN HOUR IS POSSIBLE. MOVEMENT IS TO THE SOUTHEAST AT ONLY 20 MPH. IN ADDITION TO HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND DANGEROUS LQIGHTNING...THESE STORMS MAY ALSO PRODUCE STRONG WIND AND SMALL HAIL. ALL THOSE OUTDOORS SHOULD MOVE INSIDE. IT IS LIKELY THAT WATER WILL POND ON ROADWAYS. REMEMBER...NEVER EVER DRIVE THROUGH FLOODED ROADWAYS. STAIRS/DRZAL
Special weather statement, Sep 2, 3:41 PM EDT, 1 hour 4 minutes before
PAZ015-WVZ001-022200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY...CORRECTED TO ADD NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA HANCOCK COUNTY 330 PM EDT SUN SEP 02 1990 ...SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY DOWNPOURS OVER SOUTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA AND THE NORTHERN PANHANDLE OF WEST VIRGINIA... AT 325 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SHOWERS AND EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING...IN PENNSYLVANIA...FROM VANDERGRIFT TO THE NORTH HILLS OF PITTSBURGH TO HANCOCK COUNTY WEST VIRGINIA AND WESTWARD INTO OHIO. THESE STORMS ARE MOVING VERY SLOWLY AND WILL DROP ALOT OF RAIN IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. AN INCH OF RAIN IN AN HOUR IS POSSIBLE. MOVEMENT IS TO THE SOUTHEAST AT ONLY 20 MPH. IN ADDITION TO HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...THESE STORMS MAY ALSO PRODUCE STRONG WIND AND SMALL HAIL. ALL THOSE OUTDOORS SHOULD MOVE INSIDE. IT IS LIKELY THAT WATER WILL POND ON ROADWAYS. REMEMBER...NEVER EVER DRIVE THROUGH FLOWODED ROADWAYS. STAIRS/DRZAL
The office that day
Everything else NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 2, 4:45 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Greene | 75 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1990Every 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.