Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 8, NWS State College, PA

July 18, 1997Union County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this tornado warning at Jul 18, 1997, 5:07 PM EDT for Union County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 48 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 18, 1997, 5:07 PM EDT (21:07 UTC)
Expired
Jul 18, 1997, 5:55 PM EDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Union County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:07 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 18, 5:15 PM EDTTornado F0Lewisburg, PA40/57/53N, 76/53/31W to 40/57/43N, 76/51/14W. An F0 tornado touched down and crossed Route 15 just a mile north of Lewisburg in Union County. The storm moved southeast across the Susquehanna River crossing Route 45 before lifting a mile south of East Lewisbu

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jul 18, 4:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Washington/Dulle, VA (KIAD), launched 12:00Z, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 226 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 1997-07-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 298 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Washington/Dulle, VA at 12:00Z on 1997-07-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 93 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
298 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-144 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1618 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
93 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
106 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 182108 RRA
TORCTP
PAC119-182155-

BULLETIN- EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
507 PM EDT FRI JUL 18 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 555 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

   ...UNION COUNTY
 
AT 506 PM EDT...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY STATE COLLEGE
DOPPLER RADAR 9 MILES NORTHWEST OF LEWISBURG OR IN THE VICINITY OF
FOREST HILL MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

THE STORM CONTAINING THE TORNADO WILL PASS NEAR...
FOREST HILL                       BY 506 PM EDT
NEW COLUMBIA                      BY 520 PM EDT
WEST MILTON                       BY 520 PMT EDT
LEWISBURG                         BY 525 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

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 18, 3:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCameron, McKean, Potter58 min
Jul 18, 3:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPClinton65 min
Jul 18, 3:56 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPBedford79 min
Jul 18, 4:01 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPMcKean, Potter79 min
Jul 18, 4:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCameron61 min
Jul 18, 4:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPClinton, Lycoming63 min
Jul 18, 4:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCambria65 min
Jul 18, 4:44 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPClinton36 min
Jul 18, 4:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPColumbia, Montour, Northumberland62 min
Jul 18, 4:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPUnion62 min
Jul 18, 5:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPSchuylkill60 min
Jul 18, 5:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCentre, Clearfield61 min
Jul 18, 6:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPMifflin46 min
Jul 18, 6:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPJuniata45 min
Jul 18, 7:04 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPPerry46 min
Jul 18, 7:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCambria50 min
Jul 18, 7:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCumberland, Dauphin64 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.