Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 39, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

June 29, 1990Fayette County, Washington County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 29, 1990, 6:00 PM EDT for Fayette County, Washington County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 60 min. 2 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
Jun 29, 1990, 6:00 PM EDT (22:00 UTC)
Expired
Jun 29, 1990, 7:00 PM EDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Fayette County, PA, Washington 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 29, 6:15 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Washington, PA
Jun 29, 6:45 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Fayette, 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, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 42 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1990-06-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 237 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1990-06-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 81 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
237 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-55 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1266 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
81 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
101 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 KPIT 292200
SVRPIT
PAC051-125-292300-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
600 PM EDT FRI JUN 29 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES OF

WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA...FAYETTE AND WASHINGTON

AT 558 PM RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN CENTRAL WASHINGTON
COUNTY. IT IS MOVING EAST 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.

THIS STORM CAN PRODUCE A TORNADO.

IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES..GO T9O 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, Jun 29, 5:58 PM EDT, 2 minutes before
PAZ001>006-013>015-WVZ001-300000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
555 PM EDT FRI JUN 29 1990

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AND FLASH FLOOD WATCH ON TIL 10 PM THIS
   EVENING FOR MUCH OF WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA NORTH OF PITTSBURGH AND
   JOHNSTOWN...

JUST BEFORE 6 RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS WITH STRONG WIND GUSTS...
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...HAIL...AND HEAVY DOWNPOURS MOVING THROUGH
BUTLER AND ARMSTRONG COUNTIES...THE PITTSBURGH AREA...WASHINGTON
GREENE AND FAYETTE COUNTIES IN SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA AND WETZEL
AND MONONGAHELA COUNTIES IN NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA.

THERE WERE OTHER STRONG STORMS OVER CAMBRIA AND CENTRE COUNTIES IN
THE CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA MOUNTAI5NS.  ALL WERE MOVING EASTSOUTHEAST
AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES...TAKE COVER.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 29, 6:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZArmstrong, Butler65 min
Jun 29, 6:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZFayette, Somerset75 min
Jun 29, 6:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZIndiana, Jefferson75 min
Jun 29, 7:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZBlair, Cambria60 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.