Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 6, NWS State College, PA
NWS State College, PA issued this tornado warning at Jul 8, 1996, 2:10 PM EDT for Lycoming County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 50 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
- Jul 8, 1996, 2:10 PM EDT (18:10 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 8, 1996, 3:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 50 min
- Issued by
- NWS State College, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Lycoming County, PA
The radar
The State College radar (KCCX), 92 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:13 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 8, 2:15 PM EDT | Hail 0.15 | Williamsport, PA | |
| Jul 8, 2:40 PM EDT | Hail 0.75 | Picture Rocks, 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, 6.2 hours before the alert went out and 222 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1747 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 49 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -39 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 73 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KCTP 081811 TORCTP PAC081-081900- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 210 PM EDT MON JUL 8 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 300 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...... IN PENNSYLVANIA ...EASTERN LYCOMING COUNTY AT 210 PM STATE COLLEGE RADAR INDICATED A ROTATING THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO JUST EAST OF LOYALSOCKVILLE. THIS STORM IS MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH AND WILL CROSS NEAR TIVOLI BY 230 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 SHELBTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS... OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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 tornado warning went out at Jul 8, 10:05 AM EDT, 4 hours 5 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 8, 10:05 AM EDT, 4 hours 5 minutes before
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 955 AM EDT MON JUL 8 1996 PLENTY OF CLD COVER ACROSS MUCH OF THE FCST/A THIS AM. VIS SAT PICTURE SHOWS CLRING TREND WORKtING INTO NW PA ATTM. BEST INSTABILITY ACROSS S 1/4 OF STATE...HENCE KEEP CHC POPS THIS AFTN IN THIS AREA. NEXT SHRTWV MOVES INTO REGION TONIGHT BRINGING ANOTHER ROUND OF TRW/RW TO FCST/A. WINTHER
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jul 8, 11:07 AM EDT, 3 hours 3 minutes before
PAZ004>06-010>012-017>019-024>028-033>037-041>042-045>046- 049>053-056>059-063>066-082200- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR PENNSYLVANIA NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 1105 AM EDT MON JULY 8 1996 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER SAYS THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER ACROSS ALL OF CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES AND SURROUNDING AREAS OF BRADFORD...JOHNSTOWN...STATE COLLEGE...WILLIAMSPORT...AND HARpRISBURG. CONDITIONS LATER THIS AFTERNOON WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR THUNDERSTORMS...SOME OF WHICH MAY BECOME SEVERE. SKYWARN SPOTTER NETWORKS MAY NEED TO BE ACTIVATED LATE THIS AFTERNOON AS A RESULT. WINTHER
The office that day
Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 8, 12:45 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | McKean | 60 min |
| Jul 8, 3:45 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Tioga | 45 min |
| Jul 8, 1:37 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Lycoming | 68 min |
| Jul 8, 2:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Columbia | 60 min |
| Jul 8, 3:08 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Montour, Northumberland | 52 min |
| Jul 8, 4:45 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Franklin | 45 min |
| Jul 8, 5:27 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Cumberland | 48 min |
| Jul 8, 5:36 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Dauphin | 69 min |
| Jul 8, 6:57 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Franklin | 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.