Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 1, NWS State College, PA

May 1, 1997Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this tornado warning at May 1, 1997, 4:41 PM EDT for Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 49 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 1, 1997, 4:41 PM EDT (20:41 UTC)
Expired: May 1, 1997, 5:30 PM EDT
In force: 49 min
Issued by: NWS State College, PA
Area: Whole counties

County Schuylkill County, PA

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 1, 4:50 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Pottsville, PA	Powerlines were blown down in the area around Pottsville as thunderstorms crossed the county.

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
May 1, 4:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD (KAPG), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 138 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 833 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 164 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 178 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 012039 RRA
TORCTP
PAC107-012130-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
441 PM EDT THU MAY 1 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  530 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS......
 
IN  PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...EASTERN SCHUYLKILL COUNTY
 
AT 435 PM EDT STATE COLLEGE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONGLY ROTATING
THUNDERSTORM THAT MAY PRODUCE A TORNADO ABOUT 4 MILES EAST OF
POTTSVILLE. THE STORM WILL BE IN THE TAMAQUA AREA BEFORE 5 PM.
 
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 1, 3:31 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Dauphin	29 min
May 1, 3:48 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Schuylkill	57 min
May 1, 4:09 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Lancaster	66 min
May 1, 4:22 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	York	68 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.