Alert archive / Ohio / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 34, NWS Cleveland, OH

May 18, 1997Portage County, Trumbull County, Ohio

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 18, 1997, 10:41 PM EDT for Portage County, Trumbull County, Ohio. It was in force for 64 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
May 18, 1997, 10:41 PM EDT (02:41 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1997, 11:45 PM EDT
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS Cleveland, OH
Area
Whole counties

Counties Portage County, OH, Trumbull County, OH

The radar

The Cleveland radar (KCLE), 76 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:42 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
May 18, 10:47 PM EDTHail 0.88Warren, OH

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 00:00Z, 2.7 hours before the alert went out and 118 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 00:00Z on 1997-05-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 204 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 00:00Z on 1997-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 151 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
204 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-55 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
952 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
151 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
227 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

936 
WUUS1 KCLE 190243 RRA
SVRCLE
OHC133-155-190345-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
1041 PM EDT SUN MAY 18 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CLEVELAND HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1145 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN  OHIO
 
   ...PORTAGE COUNTY...TRUMBULL COUNTY
 
AT 1035 PM EDT CLEVELAND DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER
PORTAGE COUNTY JUST NORTH OF RAVENNA. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AROUND
40 MPH. IT WILL MOVE EAST INTO TRUMBULL COUNTY NEAR LEAVITTSBURG AROUND
11 PM. LARGE HAIL IS LIKELY WITH THIS STORM.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DONT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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, May 18, 8:29 PM EDT, 2 hours 12 minutes before
OHZ003>014-089-017>023-027>033-036-037-038-047-
PAZ001-002-003-190230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
829 PM EDT SUN MAY 18 1997

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR NORTHWEST OHIO WAS ALLOWED TO EXPIRE
AT 8 PM.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR NORTH-CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OHIO...AND
ERIE AND CRAWFORD COUNTIES IN NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVED ACROSS NORTHERN OHIO THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS
EVENING. THEY WEAKENED AS THEY MOVED EAST INTO WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA.

A FEW SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS LINGERED ACROSS THE AREA THIS EVENING
ESPECIALLY OVER NORTH CENTRAL OHIO AND NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA. THE
THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE ANYMORE THIS EVENING.

HOWEVER...THERE WERE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WEST OF OHIO OVER NORTHERN
ILLINOIS AND SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE
INTO NORTHWEST OHIO LATER TONIGHT...AROUND 11 PM TO 1 AM.  IT IS POSSIBLTHAT SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD BE SEVERE AGAIN...PRODUCING LARGE HAIL
OR WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. IT IS ALSO POSSIBLE THAT THESE STORMS
COULD CAUSE A TORNADO.

STAYED TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL RADIO OR TELEVISION
STATIONS...OR CABLE TW FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.
Special weather statement, May 18, 8:33 PM EDT, 2 hours 8 minutes before
OHZ003>014-089-017>023-027>033-036-037-038-047-
PAZ001-002-003-190230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
829 PM EDT SUN MAY 18 1997

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR NORTHWEST OHIO WAS ALLOWED TO EXPIRE
AT 8 PM.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR NORTH-CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST OHIO...AND
ERIE AND CRAWFORD COUNTIES IN NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVED ACROSS NORTHERN OHIO THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS
EVENING. THEY WEAKENED AS THEY MOVED EAST INTO WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA.

A FEW SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS LINGERED ACROSS THE AREA THIS EVENING
ESPECIALLY OVER NORTH CENTRAL OHIO AND NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA. THE
THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE ANYMORE THIS EVENING.

HOWEVER...THERE WERE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WEST OF OHIO OVER NORTHERN
ILLINOIS AND SOUTHWEST LOWER MICHIGAN.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE
INTO NORTHWEST OHIO LATER TONIGHT...AROUND 11 PM TO 1 AM.  IT IS POSSIBLTHAT SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD BE SEVERE AGAIN...PRODUCING LARGE HAIL
OR WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. IT IS ALSO POSSIBLE THAT THESE STORMS
COULD CAUSE A TORNADO.

STAYED TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL RADIO OR TELEVISION
STATIONS...OR CABLE TW FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Cleveland, OH issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 11:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEGeauga43 min
May 18, 11:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEFulton, Henry51 min
May 18, 11:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEAshtabula53 min
May 18, 11:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEHancock, Wood50 min
May 19, 12:12 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLESeneca, Wyandot63 min
May 19, 12:12 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEOttawa, Sandusky63 min
May 19, 12:28 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEErie, Huron62 min
May 19, 12:37 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLECrawford, Marion68 min
May 19, 12:50 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLEAshtabula115 min
May 19, 12:55 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLELorain65 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Ohio, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.