Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1995

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 231, NWS State College, PA

August 31, 1995Tioga County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 31, 1995, 8:39 PM EDT for Tioga County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 36 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 31, 1995, 8:39 PM EDT (00:39 UTC)
Expired
Aug 31, 1995, 9:15 PM EDT
In force
36 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Tioga County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 113 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:41 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Buffalo Intl Airport, NY (KBUF), launched 00:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 175 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 00:00Z on 1995-09-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1014 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 00:00Z on 1995-09-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -3 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1014 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-13 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
770 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
58 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCTP 010040 RRA
SVRCTP
PAC117-010115-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
839 PM EDT THU AUG 31 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  915 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS......
 
IN  PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...SOUTHEASTERN TIOGA COUNTY
 
AT 835 PM...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM OVER TIOGA COUNTY NEAR BLOSSBURG. THE STORM IS MOVING
SOUTHEAST AT 40 MPH AND WILL MOVE TO NEAR GLEASON BEFORE 900 PM.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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.

NWS State College, PA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Aug 31, 2:06 PM EDT, 6 hours 33 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 31, 2:06 PM EDT, 6 hours 33 minutes before
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
205 PM EDT THU AUG 31 1995

SUGGESTIONS...
WSFO PHL... KEEP CHC POPS RW (PSBL TRW) THIS EVE NRN ZONES... LWR
            SUS VLLY ALL NIGHT OR LATER IN THE EVE.
            FRIDAY.... PARTLY SUNNY.
            FRIDAY NIGHT... PARTLY CLOUDY NRN ZONES... MO CLR SUS
                            VLLY.
            SAT... PC

WSFO PIT... CHC EVE RW/TRW THEN MO CLDY NRN MTNS/LAURELS PC
            ELSEWHERE AFTER CHC RW/TRW THIS EVE
            FRIDAY PARTLY SUNNY
            FRI NGT/SAT PC.

DSCN...
VSBL SATL IMAGERY SHOWS LITTLE IN THE WAY OF CNVTN FORMING ALONG
SFC FRNT TO THE W ACRS FAR SRN ONT- NW OH AND SRN INDIANA. OH
APPEARS TO BE CAPPED OFF ON THE VSBL WITH LITTLE CU FORMING. WARMER
MID-LVL TEMPS (-5C AT 500 MB/9-10C 700 MB DAY 12Z RAOB) MAY BE THE
REASON FOR THIS CNVTVE INHIBITION. NGM/ETA GRIDS SHOW A ZONE OF
MID-LVL COLD AIR ADVECTION NR SFC FRNT WHICH SHUD ACT TO
DESTABILIZE AMS JUST AHEAD OF FRNT. THIS OVERLAP OF MID-LVL CAA AND
1000 MB MOIST AXIS AHEAD OF FRNT WILL CONT THRU F18 AS FRNT SLIDES
E INTO PA THIS EVE. CONTINUED HEATING (ESP OVR OH WHERE AMS IS
CAPPED) ALONG WITH FRNTL CONV CUD SET THINGS OFF IN A HURRY TO OUR
W LATER THIS AFTERN. THIS ACTVY WUD EVENTUALLY MOVE INTO PA THIS
EVE/OVERNIGHT. STILL WUD NOT GO HIGHER THAN CHC POPS. WUD CONT 30
CHC POPS RW WITH PSBL TRW THIS EVE WRN/NRN CTP ZONES AND LATER
TONIGHT SUS VLLY ZONES.

SFC FRNT REACHES FROM NYC-ROA S OF CTP FA BY 12Z. NGM/ETA ( NO AVN
GRIDS YET) INDICATE THAT THIS FRNT WILL BECOME MORE ANA-FRNT IN
NATURE FROM F12 TO F36. UPR LVL TROF WILL SHARPEN OVR OH VLLY IN
RESPONSE TO A S/W MOVG INTO BASE OF DVPLG LONG WV TROF. THIS WILL
PUT PA IN THE RIGHT REAR QUAD OF UPR LVL JET WHICH IS DOWNSTREAM
FROM TROF AXIS. THUS... A THERMALLY DIRECT CIRC WORKS ACRS REGION
FRI AS SEEN IN THE AGEO WINDS AND LOW-LVL Q-VEC/FRONTOGENISIS
FIELDS. DON/T THINK WE WILL SEE ANY POST-FRONTAL PRECIP IN PA GIVEN
STRG DRY ADVECTION BLO 700 MB. IN ADDITION... THE 850 MB QVEC
FIELDS SUGGEST PA WILL BE IN THE SUBSDC LOW-LVL AGEO BRANCH OF THIS
JET INDUCED CIRC. MOST OF THE UVV/S FRI APPEAR ABV 700 MB
SUGGESTIVE OF HIGHER LVL CLD CVR. THE 400 MB RH FIELDS ON BOTH
NGM/ETA SHOW PLENTY OF HI CLDS WILL MOVE ACRS REGION FRI SUGGESTING
A PARTLY SUNNY INSTEAD OF MO SUNNY DAY. ALSO IF ENUF SS DOES
OCCUR... SOME CU IS ALSO LIKELY GIVEN SOME MOISTURE LEFT OVER AT
1000 MB. THUS PS LOOKS GOOD ALL ZONES FRI.

FOR FRI NGT HIGH PRES... DECENT CAA AND CONTINUED WK SUBSDC/Q-VEC
DVRGE WILL PERSIST. THINK SKIES WILL BECOME MO CLR SUS VLLY AND
STAY PC IN NRN/WRN CTP ZONES GIVEN CONTINUED CAA AND SOME MOISTTURE
LEFT AT 850 MB ( SEEN ON NGM GRIDS).

SAT ALSO LOOKS NICE WITH HIGH PRESS ACRS REGION AND WK 700 MB
SUBSDC. AVN 60 HR FROM AFOS SHOWS A VORT AT 500 MB ACRS REGION SO
MAY SEE SOME HI CLOUDINESS. WUD GO PC.

PFT/S SENT AT 1215 PM.

NICOSIA
`

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 31, 8:29 PM EDT, 10 minutes before
PAZ005-006-010-011-010200-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT - SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
829 PM EDT THU AUG 31 1995

PORTIONS OF THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAVE BEEN DISCONTINUED AS OF
830 PM.  IN NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA...THE COUNTIES DROPPED FROM THE
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH INCLUDE...

CAMERON... ELK... MCKEAN... AND POTTER.

WITH THE PASSAGE OF A COLD FRONT THIS EVENING...THE THREAT OF SEVERE
WEATHER HAS ENDED FOR THE ABOVE COUNTIES.

JUNG
Special weather statement, Aug 31, 8:37 PM EDT, 2 minutes before
PAZ005-006-010-011-010200-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT - SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
829 PM EDT THU AUG 31 1995

PORTIONS OF THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAVE BEEN DISCONTINUED AS OF
830 PM.  IN NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA...THE COUNTIES DROPPED FROM THE
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH INCLUDE...

CAMERON... ELK... MCKEAN... AND POTTER.

WITH THE PASSAGE OF A COLD FRONT THIS EVENING...THE THREAT OF SEVERE
WEATHER HAS ENDED FOR THE ABOVE COUNTIES.

JUNG

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 31, 8:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLycoming, Sullivan61 min
Aug 31, 9:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPClearfield10 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1995Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1995

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.