Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 9, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

April 1, 1990Bedford County, Somerset County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 1, 1990, 5:18 PM EDT for Bedford County, Somerset County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 62 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
Apr 1, 1990, 5:18 PM EDT (21:18 UTC)
Expired
Apr 1, 1990, 6:20 PM EDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Bedford County, PA, Somerset 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
Apr 1, 5:30 PM EDTHail 0.75Somerset, PA
Apr 1, 6:13 PM EDTHail 0.75Bedford, 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, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 123 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 1990-04-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1990-04-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 27 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
575 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
27 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
34 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 012120
SVRPIT
PAC009-111-012220-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
518 PM EDT SUN APR 1 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  620 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA...BEDFORD...SOMERSET.
 
AT 516 PM RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN SOMERSET COUNTY.
IT IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROeADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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, Apr 1, 4:11 PM EDT, 1 hour 7 minutes before
PAZ001>006-013>015-WVZ001-012200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
410 PM EDT SUN APR  1 1990

A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR PIEDMONT RESERVOIR IN NORTHWEST BELMONT
COUNTY OHIO WILL BE MOVING INTO THE NORTHERN PANHANDLE OF WEST
VIRGINIA BETWEEN 5 AND 530 PM EDT. THIS THUNDERSTORM CONTAINS
HAIL...HEAVY RAIN...AND WINDS AT OR ABOVE 50 MPH.

IT LOOKS LIKE IT WILL ENTER THE NORTHERN PANHANDLE OF WEST
VIRGINIA NEAR THE BORDER OF OHIO AND BROOKE COUNTIES.

THIS IS NOT PART OF SEVERE WEATHER AWARENESS WEEK DRILL. THIS IS
A REAL MESSAGE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 1, 4:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZWashington56 min
Apr 1, 6:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZGreene, Washington70 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.