Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 13, NWS State College, PA
NWS State College, PA issued this tornado warning at Aug 17, 1997, 5:25 PM EDT for Bedford County, Fulton County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 35 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
- Aug 17, 1997, 5:25 PM EDT (21:25 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 17, 1997, 6:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 35 min
- Issued by
- NWS State College, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Bedford County, PA, Fulton County, PA
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 17, 5:30 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 51 | Chaneysville, PA | Trees and powerlines down. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 17, 4:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 7 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 137 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
- 129 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -282 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1590 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 29 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -40 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 37 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 172126 RRA TORCTP PAC009-057-172200- BULLETIN- EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 525 PM EDT SUN AUG 17 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 600 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTH CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA ...BEDFORD COUNTY ...FULTON COUNTY AT 524 PM EDT...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY STATE COLLEGE DOPPLER RADAR 17 MILES SOUTH OF BEDFORD OR 4 MILES WEST OF UNION TOWNSHIP MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. THE STORM CONTAINING THE TORNADO WILL PASS NEAR... UNION TOWNSHIP BY 535 PM EDT STONEYBREAK BY 545 PM EDT WARFORDSBURG BY 550 PM EDT IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IN A HOME OR BUSINESS IS AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. JUNG/OSTUNO
The office that day
Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 16, 8:01 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Clearfield | 64 min |
| Aug 16, 8:50 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Centre | 60 min |
| Aug 16, 8:57 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Centre | 53 min |
| Aug 16, 9:04 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Schuylkill | 61 min |
| Aug 16, 9:43 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Schuylkill | 22 min |
| Aug 16, 10:05 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Mifflin | 50 min |
| Aug 16, 10:09 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Lancaster | 61 min |
| Aug 16, 11:01 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Columbia, Montour | 64 min |
| Aug 17, 4:45 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Bedford, Somerset | 60 min |
| Aug 17, 5:12 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CTP | Fulton | 58 min |
| Aug 17, 5:40 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CTP | Franklin | 50 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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.