Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 49, NWS State College, PA

May 19, 1997Lebanon County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 19, 1997, 8:50 PM EDT for Lebanon County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 55 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 19, 1997, 8:50 PM EDT (00:50 UTC)
Expired
May 19, 1997, 9:45 PM EDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Lebanon County, PA

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 19, 9:30 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 51Jonestown, PAWinds took down trees.

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
May 19, 8:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 00:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 177 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 1997-05-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 227 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, Washington/Dulle, VA at 00:00Z on 1997-05-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 138 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
227 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-67 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2329 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
138 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
192 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

980 
WUUS01 KCTP 200051 RRA
SVRCTP
PAC075-200145-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
850 PM EDT MON MAY 19 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS......
 
IN  PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...LEBANON COUNTY
 
AT 845 PM EDT STATE COLLEGE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS FROM POTTSVILLE SOUTHWEST TO JUST NORTH OF HARRISBURG. THE
STORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 50 MPH AND WILL CROSS LICKDALE BY 9 PM
AND INTO PALMYRA AND LEBANON BEFORE 915 PM.
 
TREES AND WIRES WERE DOWNED IN ASHLAND ABOUR 840 PM.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DONT USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 19, 8:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPNorthumberland45 min
May 19, 8:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPDauphin, Schuylkill61 min
May 19, 8:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPPerry61 min
May 19, 8:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCumberland, Franklin61 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.