Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 21, NWS State College, PA
NWS State College, PA issued this tornado warning at Jul 30, 1996, 4:48 PM EDT for Bedford County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 42 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 30, 1996, 4:48 PM EDT (20:48 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 30, 1996, 5:30 PM EDT
- In force
- 42 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 20:48 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 30, 5:15 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Graceville, 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, 8.8 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 464 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -11 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 665 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 32 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 83 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 118 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.2
- Supercell composite
- 2.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KCTP 302048 TORCTP PAC009-302130- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 448 PM EDT TUE JUL 30 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...... IN PENNSYLVANIA ...NORTHERN BEDFORD COUNTY AT 445 RADAR SHOWED A STRONGLY ROTATING THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF YELLOW CREEK. THE STORM WILL REACH NEAR HOPEWELL AROUND 5 PM. A TORNADO IS POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS. &
The office that day
Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 30, 3:28 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Clearfield | 4 hr |
| Jul 30, 4:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Bedford | 61 min |
| Jul 30, 4:52 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Blair, Huntingdon | 68 min |
| Jul 30, 5:02 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CTP | Blair, Huntingdon | 58 min |
| Jul 30, 5:12 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CTP | Fulton | 63 min |
| Jul 30, 5:23 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Clearfield | 67 min |
| Jul 30, 5:43 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CTP | Clearfield | 47 min |
| Jul 30, 5:59 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CTP | Franklin | 61 min |
| Jul 30, 6:16 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CTP | Juniata, Mifflin | 59 min |
| Jul 30, 6:45 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CTP | Perry | 60 min |
| Jul 30, 7:06 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CTP | Cumberland, Franklin | 69 min |
| Jul 30, 7:19 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CTP | Mifflin | 41 min |
| Jul 30, 7:32 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CTP | Adams | 58 min |
| Jul 30, 7:46 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Cumberland | 3 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.