Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 29, NWS State College, PA

May 15, 1997Somerset County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 15, 1997, 12:51 AM EDT for Somerset County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 69 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 15, 1997, 12:51 AM EDT (04:51 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 1997, 2:00 AM EDT
In force
69 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Somerset County, PA

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 119 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:48 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 00:00Z, 4.9 hours before the alert went out and 103 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 1997-05-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 23 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Pittsburgh, PA at 00:00Z on 1997-05-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 53 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
23 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-22 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1198 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
65 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
53 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
103 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 150451 RRA
SVRCTP
PAC111-150600-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
1251 AM EDT THU MAY 15 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  200 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS......
 
IN  PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...SOUTHERN SOMERSET COUNTY
 
AT 1245 AM...RADAR INDICATED A CLUSTER OF SEVERE STORMS JUST ENTERING
SOUTHWESTERN SOMERSET COUNTY NEAR CONFLUENCE. THE STORMS ARE MOVING EAST
AT 35 MPH...AND WILL BE JUST EAST OF PLEASANT UNION BY 130 AM.
 
THESE STORMS LIKELY CONTAIN LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.
 
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
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
 
MARTIN

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.

NWS State College, PA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 14, 8:37 PM EDT, 4 hours 14 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 14, 8:37 PM EDT, 4 hours 14 minutes before
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
835 PM EDT WED MAY 14 1997

***SUGGESTIONS***
.PIT...TONIGHT...MIGHT MENTION CHC FOR RUMBLE OF THUNDER OVR
LAURELS AS DYING CONVECTION APPROACHES TOWARD MIDNIGHT.
THURSDAY...WUD MENTION PARTIAL SUNSHINE EARLY ESPECIALLY S AND E OF
MTNS. ALSO...WUD RAISE HI TEMPS TO SLIGHTLY ABV MOS VALUES.

.PHL...TONIGHT...WUD LOWER POPS TO CHC...ESPECIALLY IPT NORTHWARD.

***DISCUSSION***
KILN AND KRLX 88DS SHOWING TSRA FIRING IN VICINITY OF WARM FRONT
OVR OHIO AND WVA...WHERE DWPTS HAVE RISEN TO THE MID 50S. 15Z MESO
ETA TRACKS SFC LO ACROSS NW PA LATE TONIGHT.  HOWEVER MODELS KEEP
ATMOS OVR CPA RELATIVELY STABLE...WHICH SEEMS LIKELY GIVEN CURRENT
SFC DWPTS MAINLY IN THE U30S ACROSS CPA. WEAKENING LL JET AND
ASSOCIATED LOBE OF WAA WILL PASS OVR AREA BTWN 03Z AND
08Z...TOUCHING OFF SCT SHRA...MAINLY SOUTHERN PA. FEEL LAUREL
HIGHLANDS IS THE ONLY AREA THAT WARRANTS A MENTION OF TSRA
OVERNIGHT AS MODELS SHOW HIGHEST THTE AIR W OF MTNS.

THURSDAY...CDFRT PUSHES E OF ENTIRE CWA BY LATE MORNING. ATMOS DRYS
OUT CONSIDERABLY ABV 850 MB. MODEL SOUNDINGS INDICATE PARTIAL
SUNSHINE TO START THE DAY...FOLLOWED BY A BUILD UP OF CU DURING
LATE MORNING...AS COLD AIR WORKS IN ALOFT AHEAD OF APPROACHING
UPPER LVL PV MAX.  WUD LIMIT MENTION OF SCT -SHRA TO LAURELS AND NW
MTNS...GIVEN THE BENEFIT OF UPSLOPE FLOW.  FEEL HI TEMPS WILL BE
NEAR OR SLIGHTLY ABV MOS VALUES.a..GIVEN BOUNDARY LYR TEMPS FM 15Z
MESO ETA.

FITZGERALD

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.