Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 39, NWS State College, PA

May 11, 1996Dauphin County, York County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 11, 1996, 2:33 PM EDT for Dauphin County, York County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 87 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
May 11, 1996, 2:33 PM EDT (18:33 UTC)
Expired
May 11, 1996, 4:00 PM EDT
In force
87 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Dauphin County, PA, York County, PA

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 11, 2:46 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 55Dillsburg, PA
May 11, 2:55 PM EDTTornado F1Harrisburg, 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

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 6.6 hours before the alert went out and 146 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 1996-05-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 1996-05-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -23 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
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-182 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1606 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-23 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
23 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 KCTP 111834
SVRCTP
PAC043-133-112000-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
233 PM EDT SAT MAY 11 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  4 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN  PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...DAUPHIN COUNTY...YORK COUNTY
 
AT 230 PM EDT DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
EXTENDING FROM NEAR NEWPORT SOUTHWEST TO WAYNEBORO IN FRANKLIN COUNTY.
THE STORMS ARE MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH AND WILL REACH DILLSBURG BY 245 PM
AND EXTEND FROM HARRISBURG SOUTH TO HANOVER NEAR 3 PM.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEA*THER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.
 
DUNHAM

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 May 11, 10:15 AM EDT, 4 hours 18 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 11, 10:15 AM EDT, 4 hours 18 minutes before
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
1015 AM EDT SAT MAY 11 1996

FLOOD WATCHES LOOK GOOD.   12Z SURFACE ANAL SHOWED THE FRONT
EXTENDING FROM BGM SOUTHWEST TO PIT WITH A WEAK LOW CENTER JUST
SOUTHWEST OF PIT.  HEAVY RAIN TRACKING OUT OF OHIO INTO THE
NORTHERN MOUNTAINS OF PA.  YNG HAD .95 IN PAST 6 HOURS IN
FAVORABLE LOCATION TO THE EAST OF THE UPPER SHORT WAVE AND JUST
NORTH OF THE WEAK SURFACE LOW.  WE ALSO HAD A SKYWARN REPORT OF
RAIN OF .80 IN KANE SINE 7 AM.  RAIN SHOULD CONTINUE TO PROGRESS
EAST AND NORTHEAST BEHIND THE FRONT AS THE UPPER WAVE MOVES EAST
OUT OF OHIO.

CTP RADAR DOWN AWAITING PART.

DUNHAM

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 11, 10:43 AM EDT, 3 hours 50 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
1042 AM EDT SAT MAY 11 1996

TIME EDT   ...CITY LOCATION..........ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS
           ...COUNTY LOCATION........

0956 AM    LUDLOW                    PA   FLOOD
05/11/96   WARREN                         STREAM FLOODING ALONG
                                          RTE 6 NEAR LUDLOW

1038 AM    SHEFFIELD                 PA   FLOOD
05/11/96   WAR\REN                         BASEMENTS BEING PUMPED
                                          IN SHEFFIELD.

DUNHAM
Special weather statement, May 11, 11:46 AM EDT, 2 hours 47 minutes before
PAZ056>059-063>066-112300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT - SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
1145 AM EDT SAT MAY 11 1996

THE STORMS PREDICTION CENTER IN KANSAS CITY SAYS THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE
WEATHER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS PORTIONS OF EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA
INCLUDING THE LOWER SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY.

A SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT WILL CROSS PENNSYLVANIA TODAY...REACHING THE LOWER
SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY LATE IN T\HE AFTERNOON.  THIS FRONT WILL TRIGGER SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS.  SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS MAY CONTAIN STRONG WINDS AND HAIL.

SKYWARN SPOTTER NETWORKS MAY NEED TO BE ACTIVATED LATER TODAY OR THIS EVENING.

JUNG

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 10, 8:55 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPWarren3 hr
May 11, 12:40 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPElk, McKean, Warren5 hr
May 11, 12:40 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPCameron, Potter5 hr
May 11, 1:48 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPTioga4 hr
May 11, 1:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPJuniata, Snyder54 min
May 11, 2:01 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPFranklin59 min
May 11, 2:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPAdams, Cumberland56 min
May 11, 2:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPPerry56 min
May 11, 2:17 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPNorthumberland58 min
May 11, 2:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPColumbia, Schuylkill61 min
May 11, 2:56 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLancaster, Lebanon94 min
May 11, 3:17 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPSchuylkill43 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Pennsylvania, 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.