Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 13, NWS State College, PA

July 19, 1996Blair County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this tornado warning at Jul 19, 1996, 12:30 PM EDT for Blair County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 45 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
Jul 19, 1996, 12:30 PM EDT (16:30 UTC)
Expired
Jul 19, 1996, 1:15 PM EDT
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Blair County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 57 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:31 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
Jul 19, 12:45 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50Roaring Spg, 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 12:00Z, 4.5 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1996-07-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1573 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 1996-07-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 259 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1573 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-15 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
639 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
259 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
257 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.1
Supercell composite
10.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCTP 191629
TORCTP
PAC013-191715-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
1230 PM EDT FRI JUL 19 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  115 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS......
 
IN  PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...SOUTHERN BLAIR COUNTY
 
AT 1225 PM EDT STATE COLLEGE DOPPLER RADAR WAS INDICATING A TORNADO OVER
BLAIR COUNTY SOUTHWEST OF ALTOONA. A TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND
BY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IN CAMBRIA COUNTY. A HOUSE AND MOBILE HOME WAS
DESTROYED BY THIS STORM.
 
THE STORM IS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 40 MPH AND WILL CROSS SOUTHWEST OF
ALTOONA AND HOLIDAYSBURG AND REACH DUNCANNSVILLE AND BLUE KNOB AREAS BY
1245 PM AND ROARING SPRING BY 1 PM.
 
THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS STORM.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT I0S AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
 
 
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 19, 4:35 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPClearfield5 hr
Jul 19, 4:48 AM EDTTornado WarningCTPClearfield57 min
Jul 19, 5:09 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPBlair, Cambria66 min
Jul 19, 5:09 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPCentre66 min
Jul 19, 5:09 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPBlair, Cambria66 min
Jul 19, 5:09 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCentre66 min
Jul 19, 5:26 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPHuntingdon64 min
Jul 19, 5:56 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPBlair, Cambria3 hr
Jul 19, 6:03 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPHuntingdon3 hr
Jul 19, 6:26 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPHuntingdon64 min
Jul 19, 6:35 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPJuniata, Mifflin3 hr
Jul 19, 7:37 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPFranklin, Fulton4 hr
Jul 19, 7:37 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPBedford4 hr
Jul 19, 9:19 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPClearfield3 hr
Jul 19, 10:58 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPBlair3 hr
Jul 19, 10:58 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPClearfield7 hr
Jul 19, 11:06 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPClearfield54 min
Jul 19, 11:09 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPClearfield51 min
Jul 19, 11:15 AM EDTTornado WarningCTPClearfield30 min
Jul 19, 11:27 AM EDTTornado WarningCTPBlair, Cambria48 min
Jul 19, 11:55 AM EDTTornado WarningCTPBlair50 min
Jul 19, 11:59 AM EDTTornado WarningCTPCambria61 min
Jul 19, 12:08 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPHuntingdon67 min
Jul 19, 12:36 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPMifflin39 min
Jul 19, 12:46 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPBlair, Huntingdon3 hr
Jul 19, 12:46 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPCambria3 hr
Jul 19, 12:53 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPBedford52 min
Jul 19, 12:59 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPFranklin, Huntingdon61 min
Jul 19, 1:17 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPCumberland58 min
Jul 19, 1:28 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPBedford, Fulton4 hr
Jul 19, 1:28 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPFranklin4 hr
Jul 19, 1:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPFulton55 min
Jul 19, 1:42 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPBedford63 min
Jul 19, 1:47 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPAdams58 min
Jul 19, 1:55 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPFranklin, Fulton65 min
Jul 19, 2:31 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPAdams59 min
Jul 19, 2:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPYork54 min
Jul 19, 5:31 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPBedford, Somerset4 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes 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.