Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 4, NWS Binghamton, NY
NWS Binghamton, NY issued this tornado warning at Jul 18, 1997, 5:28 PM EDT for Luzerne County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 62 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 18, 1997, 5:28 PM EDT (21:28 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 18, 1997, 6:30 PM EDT
- In force
- 62 min
- Issued by
- NWS Binghamton, NY
- Area
- Whole counties
County Luzerne County, PA
The radar
The Binghamton radar (KBGM), 114 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:32 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 18, 5:35 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 55 | East Berwick, PA | A severe thunderstorm crossed into southern sections of the county. Numerous treees and wires were downed along the storm's path. In the towns of East Berwick and Conyngham, many trees and wires were felled. As the storm moved into Hazleton, more trees a |
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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 18, 4:45 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Albany, NY (KALY), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 245 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
- 964 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -16 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 788 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 42 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 27 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 37 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBGM 182131 RRA TORBGM PAC079-182230- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY 528 PM EDT FRI JUL 18 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BINGHAMTON NY HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 630 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA ...SOUTHERN LUZERNE COUNTY DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A POSSIBLE TORNADO FORMING JUST SOUTHEAST OF BERWICK THIS STORM WILL REACH CONYNGHAM BY 540 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.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Binghamton, NY issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 18, 5:15 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BGM | Luzerne | 60 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes in 1997
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.