Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 71, NWS State College, PA
NWS State College, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 25, 1997, 9:02 PM EDT for Cameron County, Elk County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 58 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
- Jun 25, 1997, 9:02 PM EDT (01:02 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 25, 1997, 10:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 58 min
- Issued by
- NWS State College, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Cameron County, PA, Elk County, PA
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 25, 9:30 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 51 | Emporium, PA | Winds took down powerlines in Emporium. |
| Jun 25, 9:45 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 51 | Glen Hazel, PA | Thunderstorms took down trees in Glen Hazel and Kefner. |
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, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 181 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1973 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -4 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1287 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 24 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 83 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 138 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.5
- Supercell composite
- 3.9
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
139 WUUS01 KCTP 260104 RRA SVRCTP PAC023-047-260200- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 902 PM EDT WED JUN 25 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN PENNSYLVANIA ...CAMERON COUNTY...ELK COUNTY AT 9 PM EDT STATE COLLEGE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING ACROOS SOUTHERN MCKEAN COUNTY. THE LINE WILL MOVE SOUTHEAST OVER ELK AND CAMERON COUNTIES REACHING JOHNSONBURG BY 915 PM AND EMPORIUM BEFORE 930 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. DUNHAM
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 Jun 25, 2:15 PM EDT, 6 hours 47 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 25, 2:15 PM EDT, 6 hours 47 minutes before
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 215 PM EDT WED JUN 25 1997 ...SUGGESTIONS... .PIT...WRKZFPS/ SENT AS OF 115 PM. .PHL...COORD W/ PHL ON ZONE FCST IDEAS ...DISCUSSION... A FEW STORMS WERE POPPING OVER FAR NW PA ALONG THE LAKE ERIE LAKE BREEZE. MODIFIED SOUNDINGS FROM THIS MORNING WERE IMPRESSIVE WITH CAPES OVER 2500 J/KG USING 88/70 FROM PIT/S SOUNDING. CAPES OVER 4000 J/KG OVR LWR SUS VLLY USING MODIFIED IAD SOUNDING W/ CURRENT MDT OB AND WARMING THE MID-LVL/S A TAD BASED ON MODEL SOUNDINGS. SOUNDINGS DO SHOW QUITE A BIT OF DRY AIR ABV MIXED LAYER. OVR AREAS WITH NO FOCUS (BNDRIES ETC)... PARCELS WILL JUST MIX OUT AND CAPES WILL GO UNREALIZED. THINK SOME MESOSCALE MTN/VLLY CRCLNS (SO COMMON TO THIS REGION IN SUMMER) WILL SPARK OFF SCT TSRA THIS EVE. ACVTY WILL BE HIT AND MISS. ANY STORM THAT FORMS AND ORGANIZES SHUD CONTAIN GUSTY WINDS GIVEN DRIER AIR ABV AND RATHER IMPRESSIVE MID-LVL WINDS GIVEN THE OPPRESSIVE AIR MASS IN PLACE. KCCX VWP SHOWING 20 TO 35 KTS BTWN 3 AND 15 KFT WHICH IS QUITE STRG GIVEN THE OBSERVED CAPE/S. BEST SHOT THRU ERLY EVE FOR STORMS NRN PA... 50 POPS. THINK 30 OR 40 AT MOST FOR LAURELS/SC MTNS TO MID SUS VLLY. 30 PCT OR NONE FOR LWR SUS VLLY AS ACVTY WILL PROBABLY BE ISOLATED. NRN STREAM S/W MOVES ACRS NERN UNITED STATES AND SHEARS OUT IN TIME. A ILL-DEFINED SRN STREAM WAVE ALSO MOVES NE TONIGHT INTO THURSDAY. THE COMBINATION OF THESE WAVES LEADS TO STRG CONFLUENCE AND AN UPR LVL JET STREAK FORMING FROM THE ERN LAKES TO SERN CANADA BY LATE TONIGHT. PA WILL BE IN THE RR QUAD OF THIS JET TONIGHT/THURSDAY W/ STRG UPR DRVG OVHD IMPLIED BY LATE TONIGHT. THE LWR BRANCH OF THIS JET CIRC WILL PUSH THE SFC FRNT SOUTHWARD INTO NRN PA BY THURSDAY MORNING AND BE THE FOCUS FOR MORE WIDESPREAD... SIGNIFICANT SHRA/TSRA ACVTY. SUPPORT HI POPS FOR PA AS FRNT SLIDES TO THE S LATE TONIGHT AND THURSDAY. THERE WILL BE STRG MOISTURE ADVECTION FROM THE W-SW INTO THIS FRNTL BNDRY. THE BNDRY WILL LIE NEARLY PARRALLEL TO THE UPR FLO AS IT WORKS INTO NRN PA LATE TONIGHT AND ACRS ST THURSDAY. SOME HVY RAINFALL IS A GOOD BET... ESPECIALLY LATE TONIGHT/THURSDAY MORN NWRN PA AND DURG DAY C-PA AND SUS VLLY. NOT SURE ABT FLASH FLOODING YET... AND JUST SUPPORT MENTION OF HVY DOWNPOURS IN ZONES TONIGHT/THURSDAY. IF BNDRY REMAINS STATIONARY FOR A FEW HOURS... THEN FLASH FLOODING CUD BECOME A REAL PROBLEM. THINKING HERE IS THAT BNDRY WILL BE SLIDING S ENUF TO PRECLUDE SERIOUS PROBLEMS. WILL ALERT LATER SHIFTS TO KEEP EYE ON FF PTNL W/ BNDRY. STORMS THAT FORMS THURSDAY AFTRN FOR LWR SUS VLLY/SC MTNS CUD BECOME SEVERE GIVEN SPEED SHEAR AND MID-LVL WINDS APPRCHING 35 KTS AND TIMING OF FRNT (BY MID AFTRN OR SO). MODELS DON/T SHOW AS MUCH CAPE IN SRN PA THURSDAY AS TODAY... BUT THERE WILL BE A SHARPER FOCUS FOR CNVTN UNLIKE THIS AFTRN W/ FRNTL BNDRY AND THINK MODEL CAPES ARE TOO LOW. MUCH DRIER LOW-LVL AIR WORKS DOWN INTO PA THU NGT/FRI AS HI PRESSURE BUILDS INTO OH VLLY BY FRI MORNING. SOME LINGERING CONVTN PSBL LWR SUS VLLY THU EVE... OTHRW CLRG ALL ZONES THU NGT. SOME PATCHY FOG IN NERN VLLYS. FRI LOOKS GREAT WITH LOW HUMIDITIES. WENT CLSR TO FAN NUMBERS FOR MAXES ON FRI THAN FWC. FWC/S LOOK TOO WARM TO ME FRI (COORD W/ PHL AND PIT IN THIS). NICOSIA
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jun 25, 6:22 PM EDT, 2 hours 40 minutes before
PAZ004>006-010>012-037-041-042-045-046-260420- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT- SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 622 PM EDT WED JUN 25 1997 ...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR MUCH OF NORTHERN TIER OF PENNSYLVANIA UNTIL MIDNIGHT THURSDAY MORNING... ...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES... WARREN... MCKEAN... POTTER... ELK... CAMERON... CLINTON... TIOGA... LYCOMING... AND SULLIVAN. THUNDERSTORMS...SOME SEVERE...WILL DEVELOP AND MOVE ACROSS THE NORTHERN TIER COUNTIES OF PENNSYLVANIA THIS EVENING. THE STORMS IN ADDITION TO BEING CAPABLE OF PRODUCING SEVERE WEATHER MAY ALSO PRODUCE TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE A POSSIBILITY... NOT A CERTAINTY. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCES WINDS OF 58 MPH OR GREATER AND/OR HAIL 3/4 INCH OR LARGER. JUNG
The office that day
Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 25, 8:12 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | McKean | 63 min |
| Jun 25, 8:44 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CTP | McKean | 31 min |
| Jun 25, 9:11 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Potter, Tioga | 64 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.