Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 12, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

August 12, 1995Fayette County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this tornado warning at Aug 12, 1995, 7:39 PM EDT for Fayette County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 51 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 12, 1995, 7:39 PM EDT (23:39 UTC)
Expired
Aug 12, 1995, 8:30 PM EDT
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Fayette County, PA

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:42 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

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 67 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 1995-08-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 889 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 1995-08-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 63 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
889 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-64 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
723 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
63 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
87 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KPIT 122341
TORPIT
PAC051-130030-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
739 PM EDT SAT AUG 12 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 PM EDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...FAYETTE COUNTY
 
AT 738 PM RADAR SHOWED A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN EAST CENTRAL FAYETTE COUNTY
A FEW MILES NORTH OF OHIOPYLE PENNSYLVANIA. THE STORM IS MOVING SOUTH
SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH AND WILL MOVE OVER OR JUST EAST OF OHIOPYLE AND THEN
ALONG THE BORDER OF FAYETTE AND SOMERSET COUNTIES IN PENNSYLVANIA. BY
830 PM...THE STORM WILL MOVE INTO GARRETT COUNTY MARYLAND. IF THE STORM
MAINTAINS ITS STRENGTH...A WARNING MAY BE ISSUED FOR GARRETT COUNTY
MARYLAND LATER.
 
IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A BASEMENT.  GET UNDER
A WORKBENCH OR STURDY FURNITURE.  IF NO BASEMENT...GO TO AN INTERIOR
ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOURSELF.  AVOID WINDOWS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 12, 3:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZIndiana44 min
Aug 12, 6:42 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZFayette, Westmoreland63 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1995Every tornado warning in 1995Tornadoes 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.