Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Pittsburgh, PA
NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 15, 1996, 6:15 PM EDT for Beaver County, Washington County, Pennsylvania; Hancock County, West Virginia. It was in force for 45 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
- Apr 15, 1996, 6:15 PM EDT (22:15 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 15, 1996, 7:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 45 min
- Issued by
- NWS Pittsburgh, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Beaver County, PA, Washington County, PA, Hancock County, WV
The radar
The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 16 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 15, 6:15 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Avella, PA | |
| Apr 15, 6:36 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Shippingport, 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, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 25 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
- 1490 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 46 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 519 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 505 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 KPIT 152217 SVRPIT PAC007-125-WVC009-029-152300- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 615 PM EDT MON APR 15 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN WEST PENNSYLVANIA ...BEAVER COUNTY...WASHINGTON COUNTY. IN THE WEST VIRGINIA PANHANDLE ...BROOKE COUNTY...HANCOCK COUNTY. AT 615 PM RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN JEFFERSON AND BELMONT COUNTIES IN OHIO. THE LINE IS MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH AND SHOULD MOVE INTO THE WARNED COUNTIES. POWER LINES WERE DOWNED BY WIND IN BELMONT COUNTY EARLIER. ~ A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA. REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS. &
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Apr 15, 3:52 PM EDT, 2 hours 23 minutes before
PAZ007-008-013-014-020>022-029>032-WVZ001>004-012-021>023-041- OHZ039>041-048>050-057>059-068-069-160200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT - TORNADO WATCH TIL 10 PM. NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 355 PM EDT MON APR 15 1996 ...TORNADO WATCH TIL 10 PM FOR EXTREME WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA...NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA AND EAST CENTRAL OHIO... A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES... IN WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA... ALLEGHENY... ARMSTRONG... BEAVER... BUTLER... FAYETTE... GREENE... LAWRENCE... MERCER... VENANGO... WASHINGTON... AND WESTMORELAND. IN WEST VIRGINIA... BROOKE... HANCOCK... MARION... MARSHALL... MONONGALIA... OHIO... PRESTON... TUCKER... AND WETZEL. IN EAST CENTRAL OHIO... BELMONT... CARROLL... COLUMBIANA... COSHOCTON... GUERNSEY... HARRISON... JEFFERSON... MONROE... MUSKINGUM... NOBLE... AND TUSCARAWAS. A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND C:LOSE TO THE WATCH AREA PERSONS IN THESE AREAS FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. BE PREPARED TO TAKE COVER INDOORS AWAY FROM WINDOWS ON THE LOWEST POSSIBLE FLOOR.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 15, 6:36 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Greene, Washington | 54 min |
| Apr 15, 6:36 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Allegheny | 54 min |
| Apr 15, 6:36 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Mercer | 54 min |
| Apr 15, 7:03 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Butler | 42 min |
| Apr 15, 5:54 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Ohio | 51 min |
| Apr 15, 6:15 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Brooke | 45 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1996Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in West Virginia, 1996Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.