Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 87, NWS State College, PA
NWS State College, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 9, 1997, 4:39 PM EDT for York County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 66 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 9, 1997, 4:39 PM EDT (20:39 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 9, 1997, 5:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 66 min
- Issued by
- NWS State College, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
County York County, PA
The radar
The Sterling radar (KLWX), 124 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:39 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 9, 4:45 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 51 | Newberrytown, 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 9, 1:15 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 7 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD (KAPG), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 73 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
- 189 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -118 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1364 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 22 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 36 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 25 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KCTP 092037 RRA SVRCTP PAC133-092145- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 439 PM EDT WED JUL 9 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 545 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...... IN PENNSYLVANIA ...YORK COUNTY AT 436 PM RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR ROSSVILLE IN NORTHERN YORK COUNTY. THIS STORM WILL MOVE INTO LANCASTER COUNTY BY 450 PM. ANOTHER SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER ADAMS COUNTY MAY MOVE INTO WESTERN YORK COUNTY NEAR HANNOVER AROUND 5 PM. 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.
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 Jul 9, 2:39 PM EDT, 2 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 9, 2:39 PM EDT, 2 hours before
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 235 PM EDT WED JUL 9 1997 ...DISCUSSION... QUITE BUSY SO WILL BE BRIEF... LINE OF SHOWERS AND TSTMS (ORIENTED NE-SW) SLIDING SE ACROSS CENTRAL PA ATTM. HAD A CELL POP IN S HUNTINGDON CNTY THAT HAD A VIL OF 53. NO REPORTS OF DAMAGE YET HOWEVER. LINE OF TRW DEVELOPING AHEAD OF SFC COLD FRONT. EXPECT TRW ACTIVITY TO BE SVR (STRONG WINDS AND HAIL) ACROSS LOWER SUS IN CTP CWA NXT 1-3 HRS. X-SECT'S FCST DRY AIR TO RAPIDLY INVADE PA TONIGHT SO CLEARING AFTER SUNSET FROM WEST TO EAST. SFC HIGH PRESSURE TO SLIDE INTO FCST/A ON THU BRINGING LOWER HUMIDITY AND SUNNY SKIES (A REAL NICE DAY). WINTHER
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Jul 9, 11:04 AM EDT, 5 hours 35 minutes before
PAZ004>006-010>012-017>019-024>028-033>037-041-042-045-046- 049>053-056>059-063>066-092200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT - SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 1105 AM EDT WED JUL 9 1997 ...A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA THIS AFTERNOON... THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER IN NORMAN OKLAHOMA SAYS THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE MIDDLE AND LOWER SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE SLOWLY ACROSS EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA THIS AFTERNOON WITH SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACCOMPANYING IT. AS THE FRONT ENTERS THE SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON THE THUNDERSTORMS...BUOYED BY MID SUMMER H2EAT AND HUMIDITY...COULD BECOME SEVERE. SKYWARN ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED LATER TODAY. WINTHER
Special weather statement, Jul 9, 11:05 AM EDT, 5 hours 34 minutes before
PAZ004>006-010>012-017>019-024>028-033>037-041-042-045-046- 049>053-056>059-063>066-092200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT - SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 1105 AM EDT WED JUL 9 1997 ...A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA THIS AFTERNOON... THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER IN NORMAN OKLAHOMA SAYS THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE MIDDLE AND LOWER SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE SLOWLY ACROSS EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA THIS AFTERNOON WITH SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACCOMPANYING IT. AS THE FRONT ENTERS THE SUSQUEHANNA VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON THE THUNDERSTORMS...BUOYED BY MID SUMMER HEAT AND HUMIDITY...COULD BECOME SEVERE. SKYWARN ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED LATER TODAY. WINTHER
Special weather statement, Jul 9, 1:47 PM EDT, 2 hours 52 minutes before
PAZ004>006-010>012-017>019-024>028-033>037-041-042-045-046-049>053- 056>059-063>066-092400- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 150 PM EDT WED JULY 09 1997 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR MUCH OF SOUTH-CENTRAL AND SOUTEAST PENNSYLVANIA VALID UNTIL 8 PM. THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES: BLAIR... HUNTINGDON... BEDFORD... FULTON... FRANKLIN... MIFFLIN... JUNIATA...SNYDER...NORTHUMBERLAND... SCHUYLKILL... PERRY... DAUPHIN... LEBANON... CUMBERLAND... COLUMBIA... ADAMS... YORK AND LANCASTER. A COLD FRONT WILL CONTINUE MOVING ACROSS CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA THIS AFTERNOON. WARM HUMID AIR IN PLACE OVER THE REGION WILL SUPPORT THE POTENTIAL FOR THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WHICH WILL CAUSE LARGE HAIL AND STRONG DAMAGING WINDS. THE COLD FRONT WILL SETTLE SOUTH OF THE AREA LATER TONIGHT BRINGING AN END TO THE THREAT OF SEVERE STORMS. WINTHER
The office that day
Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 9, 1:10 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Bedford | 65 min |
| Jul 9, 1:42 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Huntingdon | 63 min |
| Jul 9, 2:50 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Fulton | 55 min |
| Jul 9, 4:26 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Franklin | 64 min |
| Jul 9, 4:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Adams | 60 min |
| Jul 9, 4:35 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Lancaster | 55 min |
| Jul 9, 6:00 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Lancaster | 65 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.