Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 151, NWS State College, PA

July 3, 1996Blair County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 3, 1996, 3:45 AM EDT for Blair County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 60 min. 2 reports 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 3, 1996, 3:45 AM EDT (07:45 UTC)
Expired: Jul 3, 1996, 4:45 AM EDT
In force: 60 min
Issued by: NWS State College, PA
Area: Whole counties

County Blair County, PA

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jul 3, 4:00 AM EDT	Hail 1	Martinsburg, PA
Jul 3, 4:00 AM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Martinsburg, 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 00:00Z, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 148 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: 1704 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -15 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 919 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 58 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -43 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 16 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: -0.3
Supercell composite: -1.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCTP 030745
SVRCTP
PAC013-030845-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
345 AM EDT WED JUL 3 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  445 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS......
 
IN  PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...BLAIR COUNTY
 
AT 345 AM...A BAND OF SEVERE STORMS WAS ON THE CAMBRIA/BLAIR COUNTY
LINE. THE STORMS HAVE A HISTORY OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL.
 
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.
 
MARTIN
 
&

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 Jul 3, 1:57 AM EDT, 1 hour 48 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 3, 1:57 AM EDT, 1 hour 48 minutes before

CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
155 AM EDT WED JUL 3 1996

STORM NEAR PIT...IS ON EDGE OF BETTER DEWPTS...BUT IS NOW
WEAKENING SOME...WHICH IS GOOD NEWS...GIVEN STRENGTH OF DYNAMICS.

STILL TOO EARLY TO TELL IF STORM WILL CRANK UP BY EARLY AFTERNOON
ACROSS LWR SUSQ.

OTHERWISE...SOME CLOUDS AND SHOWERS TODAY...AS AIRMASS REMAINS
SOMEWHAT UNSTABLE.

PARTIAL CLEARING TONIGHT.  EASTERN PART OF CWA MAY NOT CLEAR OUT
TILL THU AM.

TEMPS NEXT FEW DAYS...MAINLY 70S/50S.

LIKE THE REST OF THE YEAR SO FAR...NO DECENT SFC HI TO BUILD
IN...THUS COOL/STABLE AIR WILL NOT LAST LONG ONCE IN IT GETS INTO
AREA.

WIDE RANGE OF CONDITIONS EXPECTED IN XTAF DEPT THIS AM.

WILL UPDATE DISC. LATER IF I SEE ANYTHING DIFF...ONCE I FINISH
LOOING AT NEW RUNS ETC.

MARTIN

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 2, 10:21 PM EDT, 5 hours 24 minutes before

PAZ012-017>019-024>028-033>036-045-049>053-056>059-063>066-
030400-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT - SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
CANCELLATION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
1015 PM EDT TUE JUL 2 1996

...ALL SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCHES HAVE EXPIRED OR HAVE BEEN
CANCELED ACROSS CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA THIS EVENING...

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCHES FOR WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA EXPIRED AT 9
PM THIS EVENING.  THE WATCH FOR CENTRAL AND EAST CENTRAL PARTS OF
THE STATE WAS CANCELED AT 10 PM...SO ALL AREAS OF CENTRAL
PENNSYLVANIA ARE NOW CLEAR OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS.

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL STILL BE AROUND OVERNIGHT AS LOW
PRESSURE REMAINS ACROSS THE AREA...BUT AS TEMPERATURES COOL A
BIT...THE STORMS SHOULD BE LESS INTENSE AND MORE LIMITED IN
COVERAGE.

AGAIN...ALL WATCHES FOR THE CENTRAL SECTIONS OF PENNSYLVANIA HAVE
BEEN CANCELED.

DUNHAM

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 3, 2:52 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Cambria	53 min
Jul 3, 4:16 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Huntingdon	59 min
Jul 3, 4:45 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Cumberland, Franklin, Juniata, Perry	60 min
Jul 3, 5:49 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	York	56 min
Jul 3, 2:46 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	CTP	Lycoming	3 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Pennsylvania, 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.