Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 113, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

August 16, 1997Butler County, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 16, 1997, 7:35 PM EDT for Butler County, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 55 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 16, 1997, 7:35 PM EDT (23:35 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 1997, 8:30 PM EDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Butler County, PA, Lawrence County, PA

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:39 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Aug 16, 4:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr
Aug 16, 7:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 60 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1997-08-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2423 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 1997-08-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 111 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2423 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
591 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
111 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
99 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

135 
WUUS1 KPIT 162333 RRA
SVRPIT
PAC073-019-170030-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
735 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 PM EDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...LAWRENCE COUNTY
 
IN WEST PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...BUTLER COUNTY
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE ACROSS LAWRENCE AND BUTLER COUNTIES.
CITIES AFFECTED BY THESE STORMS INCLUDE NEW CASTLE AND ELLWOOD CITY IN
LAWRENCE COUNTY AND THE CITIES OF BUTLER AND ZELIENOPLE IN BUTLER
COUNTY. THE STORMS ARE MOVING EASTSOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH...PREPARE FOR
DAMAGING WIND OVER 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND DEADLY LIGHTNING.  TAKE
SHELTER INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 16, 3:23 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZBeaver, Lawrence52 min
Aug 16, 3:41 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZButler49 min
Aug 16, 11:39 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZMercer66 min
Aug 16, 12:08 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZVenango67 min
Aug 16, 12:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZLawrence65 min
Aug 16, 12:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZClarion55 min
Aug 16, 12:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZForest68 min
Aug 16, 12:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZButler65 min
Aug 16, 12:46 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZArmstrong29 min
Aug 16, 12:48 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZJefferson57 min
Aug 16, 1:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZJefferson52 min
Aug 16, 5:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZMercer57 min
Aug 16, 5:18 PM EDTTornado WarningPBZMercer57 min
Aug 16, 5:46 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZVenango59 min
Aug 16, 6:00 PM EDTTornado WarningPBZMercer60 min
Aug 16, 6:13 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningPBZMercer4 hr
Aug 16, 6:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZButler, Venango58 min
Aug 16, 6:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZLawrence65 min
Aug 16, 7:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZMercer57 min
Aug 16, 7:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZArmstrong57 min
Aug 16, 7:08 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZClarion, Jefferson67 min
Aug 16, 7:42 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZBeaver63 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.