Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 4, NWS State College, PA

June 25, 1997McKean County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this tornado warning at Jun 25, 1997, 8:44 PM EDT for McKean County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 31 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: Jun 25, 1997, 8:44 PM EDT (00:44 UTC)
Expired: Jun 25, 1997, 9:15 PM EDT
In force: 31 min
Issued by: NWS State College, PA
Area: Whole counties

County McKean County, PA

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jun 25, 8:50 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 51	Lantz Corners, PA	Thunderstorms moved southeast across McKean County taking down trees 3 SW of Lantz Corners and near Cambelltown south of Mt. Jewett.

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
Jun 25, 6:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 00:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 202 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: 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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

019 
WFUS01 KCTP 260044 RRA
TORCTP
PAC083-260115-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
844 PM EDT WED JUN 25 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  915 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS......
 
IN  PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...SOUTHERN MCKEAN COUNTY
 
AT 840 PM DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A DEVELOPING TORNADO NEAR LANCE CORNERS
IN SOUTH CENTRAL MCKEAN COUNTY. THE STORM IS MOVING TO THE EAST AND WILL
AFFECT MOUNT JEWETT BEFORE 9 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.
 
HEAD/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, 9:02 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Cameron, Elk	58 min
Jun 25, 9:11 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Potter, Tioga	64 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.