Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 1991

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Cleveland, OH

July 23, 1991Lawrence County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this tornado warning at Jul 23, 1991, 1:00 PM EDT for Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 45 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
Jul 23, 1991, 1:00 PM EDT (17:00 UTC)
Expired
Jul 23, 1991, 1:45 PM EDT
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Cleveland, OH
Area
Whole counties

County Lawrence County, PA

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 23, 1:00 PM EDTTornado F0Lawrence, 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, 5.0 hours before the alert went out and 68 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 1991-07-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1248 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1991-07-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 126 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
1248 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-48 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1003 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
126 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
72 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KYNG 231701
TORYNG
PAC073-231745-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE YOUNGSTOWN OH
100 PM EDT TUE JUL 23 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN YOUNGSTOWN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  145 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...LAWRENCE COUNTY
 
STORM SPOTTERS REPORTED TWO FUNNEL CLOUDS NEAR POLAND...MAHONING
COUNTY...OHIO. THESE FUNNEL CLOUDS WERE MOVING EAST TOWARD LAWRENCE
COUNTY...PENNSYLVANIA. THIS SEVERE WEATHER SITUATION COULD PRODUCE
POSSIBLE TORNADO ACTIVITY IN LAWRENCE COUNTY BETWEEN 100 PM AND 130 PM
EDT.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
NICK

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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, Jul 23, 10:01 AM EDT, 2 hours 59 minutes before
OHZALL-241200-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR OHIO...UPDATED...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OHIO
1001 AM EDT TUE JUL 23 1991

ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS CENTRAL... EAST
CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN OHIO THIS AFTERNOON.

A COLD FRONT MOVING SOUTHEAST INTO OHIO THIS AFTERNOON ALONG WITH HOT
TEMPERATURES AND HIGH MOISTURE LEVELS WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THUNDERSTORMS
OVER MUCH OF OHIO THIS AFTERNOON. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS COULD REACH
SEVERE LEVELS AND PRODUCE MAINLY STRONG WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. SOME
LARGE HAIL WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE.

THE COLD FRONT SHOULD CLEAR CENTRAL OHIO AROUND THREE OR FOUR O'CLOCK
THIS AFTERNOON AND BE SOUTH OF THE OHIO RIVER BY SEVEN OR EIGHT O'8CLOCK
THIS EVENING. THIS WILL END THE THREAT OF THUNDERSTORMS.

ECKERT
Special weather statement, Jul 23, 11:12 AM EDT, 1 hour 48 minutes before
PAZ-001-002-003-231700-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ERIE, PA
1105 AM EDT TUE JUL 23 1991

...THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING RAPIDLY IN NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA...

AT 11 AM ERIE WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS SITUATED
FROM WESTERN CRAWFORD COUNTY AND EXTENDING EAST INTO WARREN AND MCKEAN
COUNTYS.  THE LINE WAS MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT AROUND 20 MILES AN
HOUR.

THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS...STRONG AND
GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL.

THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE ASSOCIATED WITH A COLD FRONT THAT WILL BE PUSHING
SOUTHEAST ACROSS NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA...THROUGHOUT THE AFTERNOON HOURS.

SANDSTROM/LAMBERT
Special weather statement, Jul 23, 12:11 PM EDT, 49 minutes before
OHZ004-007-231800-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AKRON CANTON OH
1210 PM EDT TUE JUL 23 1991

THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS..STRONG WINDS...AND
HAIL WERE MOVING INTO NORTHEAST OHIO THIS AFTERNOON.

AT 1205 PM EDT WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS
FROM NORTHERN PORTAGE COUNTY SOUTHWEST THROUGH MEDINA TO NEAR
MANSFIELD. THIS LINE WAS MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH AND WILL BE MOVING
THROUGH AKRON BETWEEN 12:30 AND 1:30 THIS AFTERNOON AND THROUGH
THE CANTON AREA BETWEEN 1 AND 2PM.

PEOPLE IN NORTHEAST OHIO SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR THREATENING WEATHER
AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY.

BRIEF FLOODING OF ROADS AND LOW LYING AREAS IS ALSO LIKELY WITH THESE
STORMS.
THOMPSON

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 23, 11:40 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEMcKean65 min
Jul 23, 12:39 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLELawrence, Mercer66 min
Jul 23, 1:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLECameron, Elk56 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1991Every tornado warning in 1991Tornadoes in 1991

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.