Alert archive / Ohio / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 17, NWS Cleveland, OH

April 20, 1996Lorain County, Ohio

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 20, 1996, 2:37 AM EDT for Lorain County, Ohio. It was in force for 23 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Apr 20, 1996, 2:37 AM EDT (06:37 UTC)
Expired: Apr 20, 1996, 3:00 AM EDT
In force: 23 min
Issued by: NWS Cleveland, OH
Area: Whole counties

County Lorain County, OH

The radar

The Cleveland radar (KCLE), 25 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:40 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

Detroit, MI (KDTX), launched 00:00Z, 6.6 hours before the alert went out and 176 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -28 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2067 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 58 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 79 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 KCLE 200636
SVRCLE
OHC093-200700-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
237 AM EDT SAT APR 20 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CLEVELAND HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  300 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  OHIO
 
   ...LORAIN COUNTY
 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR AT CLEVELAND AT 230 AM SHOWED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR OBERLIN. TRAINED SKYWARN SPOTTERS REPORTED
THREE-QUARTER INCH HAIL WITH THIS STORM AT OBERLIN IN WEST CENTRAL
LORAIN COUNTY. THE STORM WAS MOVNING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH AND WILL PASS
NEAR ELYRIA BY 245 AM.
 
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 ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
 
 
 
&
KOSARIK

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 19, 10:22 PM EDT, 4 hours 15 minutes before

OHZ001>009-017>019-027>029-036-037-047-200500-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
1020 PM EDT FRI APR 19 1996

...A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR ALL OF NORTHWEST OHIO AND PART
OF NORTH CENTRAL OHIO UNTIL 5 AM EDT...

THE TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FROM ERIE AND HURON COUNTIES...THROUGH
THE MANSFIELD AREA...TO KNOX COUNTY AND POINTS WEST.

SOME CITIES IN THE WATCH INCLUDE TOLEDO...FINDLAY...SANDUSKY...TIFFIN...
BOWLING GREEN...NAPOLEON...MARION...NORWALK...MANSFIELD...AND MOUNT
VERNON.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH TORNADOES...HAVE OCCURRED ACROSS PARTS
OF INDIANA AND ILLINOIS THIS EVENING. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO
NORTHWEST OHIO BETWEEN 11 PM AND 2 AM AND REACH NORTH CENTRAL OHIO AFTER
1 AM.

THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS OF 60 MPH OR MORE...LARGE
HAIL... AND ISOLATED TORNADOES.

RESIDENTS OF NORTHWEST AND CENTRAL OHIO SHOULD BE ALERT FOR DANGEROUS
WEATHER TONIGHT. IF A WARNING IS ISSUED OR THE WEATHER BECOMES
THREATENING YOU SHOULD TAKE COVER INDOORS IMMEDIATELY. THE SAFEST PLACE
DURING A TORNADO OR HIGH WINDS IS IN THE BASEMENT OR ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
IN AN INTERIOR ROOM.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR` YOUR LOCAL MEDIA FOR THE LATEST
WEATHER INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

KOSARIK

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 20, 1:09 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CLE	Seneca	51 min
Apr 20, 4:49 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CLE	Huron	26 min
Apr 20, 4:53 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CLE	Lorain	37 min
Apr 20, 5:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CLE	Cuyahoga	45 min
Apr 20, 6:10 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CLE	Geauga	35 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Ohio, 1996 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1996

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.