Alert archive / Ohio / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Cleveland, OH

July 2, 1997Ashtabula County, Ohio; Erie County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this tornado warning at Jul 2, 1997, 10:08 PM EDT for Ashtabula County, Ohio; Erie County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 52 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 2, 1997, 10:08 PM EDT (02:08 UTC)
Expired
Jul 2, 1997, 11:00 PM EDT
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS Cleveland, OH
Area
Whole counties

Counties Ashtabula County, OH, Erie County, PA

The radar

The Cleveland radar (KCLE), 136 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:08 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
Jul 2, 10:45 PM EDTThunderstorm WindCountywide, OH
Jul 2, 10:45 PM EDTThunderstorm WindEdinboro, 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jul 2, 5:30 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr
Jul 2, 9:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 00:00Z, 2.1 hours before the alert went out and 180 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 1997-07-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 299 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 1997-07-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 48 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
299 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-94 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1262 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
48 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
95 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCLE 030210 RRA
TORCLE
OHC007-PAC049-PAZ520-OHZ526-030300-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
1008 PM EDT WED JUL 2 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CLEVELAND HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN  OHIO
 
   ...ASHTABULA COUNTY
 
AND THE ADJACENT WATERS OF LAKE ERIE
 
 
IN  PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...ERIE COUNTY
 
AND THE ADJACENT WATERS OF LAKE ERIE
 
 
AT 1005 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A DEVELOPING
TORNADO...NEAR THE CITY OF CONNEAUT. THIS STORM WAS MOVING EASTWARD
AT 25 MPH AND WILL EFFECT THE CITIES OF CONNEAUT IN OHIO...LAKE CITY AND
FAIRVIEW IN PENNSYLVANIA.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 2, 9:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLEAshtabula62 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Ohio, 1997Tornado 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.