Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 113, NWS State College, PA

July 18, 1997Cambria County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 18, 1997, 7:15 PM EDT for Cambria County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 50 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, 7:15 PM EDT (23:15 UTC)
Expired
Jul 18, 1997, 8:05 PM EDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Cambria County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 76 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:19 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 18, 7:19 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 51Johnstown, PATrees and wires were down in Culver.

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 18, 4:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 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 12:00Z on 1997-07-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 582 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 12:00Z on 1997-07-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 2 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
582 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-80 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1058 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-10 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCTP 182316 RRA
SVRCTP
PAC021-190005-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
715 PM EDT FRI JUL 18 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 805 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN WEST CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

   ...CAMBRIA COUNTY
 
AT 715 PM...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST WEST OF COLVER IN CAMBRIA COUNTY.  THE
STORM WILL MOVE THROUGH EBENSBURG BY 725...AND TO NEAR PORTAGE BY
735 PM.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.  DO NOT USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.
DO NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

JUNG

The office that day

Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 18, 3:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCameron, McKean, Potter58 min
Jul 18, 3:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPClinton65 min
Jul 18, 3:56 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPBedford79 min
Jul 18, 4:01 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPMcKean, Potter79 min
Jul 18, 4:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCameron61 min
Jul 18, 4:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPClinton, Lycoming63 min
Jul 18, 4:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCambria65 min
Jul 18, 4:44 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPClinton36 min
Jul 18, 4:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPColumbia, Montour, Northumberland62 min
Jul 18, 4:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPUnion62 min
Jul 18, 5:07 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPUnion48 min
Jul 18, 5:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPSchuylkill60 min
Jul 18, 5:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCentre, Clearfield61 min
Jul 18, 6:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPMifflin46 min
Jul 18, 6:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPJuniata45 min
Jul 18, 7:04 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPPerry46 min
Jul 18, 7:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCumberland, Dauphin64 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Pennsylvania, 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.