Alert archive / Ohio / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 19, NWS Cleveland, OH

April 20, 1996Lorain County, Ohio

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 20, 1996, 4:53 PM EDT for Lorain County, Ohio. It was in force for 37 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
Apr 20, 1996, 4:53 PM EDT (20:53 UTC)
Expired
Apr 20, 1996, 5:30 PM EDT
In force
37 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 20:54 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 20, 4:58 PM EDTHail 0.75Amherst, OH

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.

The nearest sounding before it

Detroit, MI (KDTX), launched 12:00Z, 8.9 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Detroit, MI at 12:00Z on 1996-04-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 167 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, Detroit, MI at 12:00Z on 1996-04-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 234 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
167 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-95 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
766 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
67 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
234 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
271 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCLE 202052
SVRCLE
OHC093-202130-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
453 PM EDT SAT APR 20 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CLEVELAND HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  530 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  OHIO
 
   ...LORAIN COUNTY
 
AT 451 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER WEST
CENTRAL LORAIN COUNTY. THE STORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH
AND WILL HIT THE CITY OF OBERLIN BY 515 PM.
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.
 
 
WOODWORTH

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 20, 12:12 PM EDT, 4 hours 41 minutes before
OHZ002-003-005>014-017>023-027>033-036>038-047-PAZ001>003-211200-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
1215 PM EDT SAT APR 20 1996

THE NATIONAL STORM PREDICTION CENTER IN KANSAS CITY MISSOURI HAS
INDICATED THAT THERE IS NOW A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
ACROSS NORTHERN OHIO AND EXTREME NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA TODAY AND EARLY
TONIGHT.

THE BEST CHANCE FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING
...MAINLY EAST OF A TOLEDO TO FINDLAY LINE.

THE SEVERE WEATHER WILL MOST LIKELY BE IN THE FORM OF DAMAGING WINDS OR
LARGE HAIL...THREE QUARTERS OF AN INCH OR GREATER IN DIAMETER...ALTHOUGH
THE POTENTIAL FOR TORNADOES CANNOT BE RULED OUT.

A COLD FRONT WILL ENTER NORTHWEST OHIO EARLY THIS AFTERNOON AND THEN
PUSH EASTWARD ACROSS THE STATE THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING.  THE
INTERACTION OF THIS FRONT WITH A VERY UNSTABLE AIRMASS...WILL PROVIDE
THE CHANCE FOR SEVERE WEATHER.

STAY TUN\ED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR THE LOCAL MEDIA FOR THE LATEST
SEVERE WEATHER WATCHES AND OR WARNINGS.

TK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 20, 1:09 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLESeneca51 min
Apr 20, 2:37 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLELorain23 min
Apr 20, 4:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEHuron26 min
Apr 20, 5:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLECuyahoga45 min
Apr 20, 6:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEGeauga35 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Ohio, 1996Every 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.