Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 4, NWS State College, PA

June 22, 1996Centre County, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this tornado warning at Jun 22, 1996, 2:00 PM EDT for Centre County, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 60 min. 3 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 22, 1996, 2:00 PM EDT (18:00 UTC)
Expired
Jun 22, 1996, 3:00 PM EDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Centre County, PA, Clearfield County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 13 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:02 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 22, 2:05 PM EDTThunderstorm WindOsceola Mills, PA
Jun 22, 2:15 PM EDTThunderstorm WindPort Matilda, PA
Jun 22, 2:30 PM EDTThunderstorm WindPine Grove Mills, 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

Buffalo Intl Airport, NY (KBUF), launched 12:00Z, 6.0 hours before the alert went out and 224 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 12:00Z on 1996-06-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 318 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, Buffalo Intl Airport, NY at 12:00Z on 1996-06-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 419 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
318 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-203 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
865 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
61 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
419 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
410 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCTP 221801
TORCTP
PAC027-033-221900-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
200 PM EDT SAT JUN 22 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  300 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...S...
 
IN  PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...CENTRE COUNTY...EASTERN CLEARFIELD COUNTY
 
AT 155 PM...RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO OVER SOUTHEASTERN CLEARFIELD
COUNTY...AND WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 40 MPH.
 
THE STORM WILL BE NEAR PORT MATILDA BY 230 PM...AND NEAR STATE COLLEGE
BY 3 PM.
 
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.
 
MARTIN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 22, 1:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPClearfield63 min
Jun 22, 1:54 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCentre81 min
Jun 22, 2:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCambria56 min
Jun 22, 2:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPBlair, Huntingdon63 min
Jun 22, 3:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPSomerset55 min
Jun 22, 6:34 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCTPSomerset116 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.