Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 2, NWS State College, PA

June 11, 1996Bedford County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this tornado warning at Jun 11, 1996, 5:17 PM EDT for Bedford County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 73 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
Jun 11, 1996, 5:17 PM EDT (21:17 UTC)
Expired
Jun 11, 1996, 6:30 PM EDT
In force
73 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Bedford County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 110 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:20 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
Jun 11, 5:30 PM EDTHailHyndman, PA
Jun 11, 6:15 PM EDTThunderstorm WindClearville, 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, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 144 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 1996-06-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 47 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1996-06-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 5 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
47 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-81 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1260 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
5 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
62 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCTP 112119
TORCTP
PAC009-112230-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
517 PM EDT TUE JUN 11 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS......
 
IN  PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...SOUTHERN BEDFORD COUNTY
 
AT 515 PM WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A STRONGLY ROTATING
THUNDERSTORM WITH A POTENTIAL TORNADO ON THE MARYLAND BORDER OF BEDFORD
COUNTY... JUST SOUTH OF CENTERVILLE. THE STORM IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20
MPH AND SHOULD TRACK TO NEAR RAINSBURG BY 530 PM AND NEAR CLEARVILLE BY
545 PM.
 
ALSO...RADAR ESTMATES 1.75 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN ACROSS EXTREME
SOTHWEST BEFORD COUNTY. ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINS WILL MOVE THROUGH THE
AREA OVER THE NEXT 1-2 HOURS MAKING FLOODING LIKLEY.
 
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 IS 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
Jun 10, 9:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPSomerset57 min
Jun 10, 9:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPBedford, Cambria56 min
Jun 11, 3:29 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPSchuylkill61 min
Jun 11, 4:30 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPElk45 min
Jun 11, 2:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCumberland, York60 min
Jun 11, 2:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLebanon40 min
Jun 11, 2:39 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPBedford66 min
Jun 11, 2:47 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPClinton58 min
Jun 11, 3:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPPotter65 min
Jun 11, 3:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPDauphin63 min
Jun 11, 3:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLycoming61 min
Jun 11, 4:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPElk45 min
Jun 11, 4:40 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPSchuylkill4 hr
Jun 11, 4:46 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPSchuylkill59 min
Jun 11, 4:46 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPSchuylkill59 min
Jun 11, 5:07 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPBedford83 min
Jun 11, 5:17 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPBedford73 min
Jun 11, 5:53 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPBedford67 min
Jun 11, 5:53 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPBedford67 min
Jun 11, 6:36 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPFulton69 min
Jun 11, 7:07 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPFranklin68 min

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.