Alert archive / West Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 135, NWS Pittsburgh, PA
NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 17, 1997, 4:54 PM EDT for Ohio County, West Virginia. It was in force for 51 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, 4:54 PM EDT (20:54 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 17, 1997, 5:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 51 min
- Issued by
- NWS Pittsburgh, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Ohio County, WV
The radar
The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 59 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:56 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 17, 5:00 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Wheeling, WV | Thunderstorm winds downed a tree and some large limbs. |
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 nearest sounding before it
Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 56 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 901 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 41 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 70 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 221 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
In the hours before
Local storm report, Aug 17, 2:58 PM EDT, 1 hour 56 minutes before
STORM REPORT .........CORRECTED........
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
100 AM EDT SUN AUG 17 1997
TIME(EST) ....CITY LOCATION.... STATE...EVENT/REMARKS...
...COUNTY LOCATION...
0612 PM DERRY PA TORNADO
08/15/97 WESTMORELAND ***0 DEAD, 6 MINOR INJ***
PATH LENGTH 3.5 MILES.
AVERAGE WIDTH 100 YARDS.
WINDS ESTIMATED BETWEEN 90 MPH
AND 120 MPH. ATTAINED WEAK F2
STATUS FOR BRIEF PORTION OF
ITS LIFE. PATH EXTENDED FROM
APPROXIMATELY 1 MILE WEST OF
DERRY TO 0.75 NORTHEAST OF
MILLWOOD. APPROXIMATELLY 7-8
MOBILE HOMES WERE DESTROYED
(2-3 WERE COMPLETELY
DESTROYED). 10-12 MOBILE
HOMES WITH MAJOR DAMAGE
AND ANOTHER 15 TO 18 WITH
MINOR DAMAGE. 4 SEPARATE
MOBILE HOME PARKS WERE
AFFECTED. 1 CHURCH DESTROYED.
1 FRAME HOUSE WITH MAJOR
DAMAGE. 1 BUSINESS LOST ROOF.
NUMEROUS TREES DOWN BOTH
UPROOTED AND SNAPPED OFF.
HIGH SCHOOL STADIUM BLEACHERS
COMPLETELY DESTROYED.
0600 PM LATROBE PA WIND DAMAGE
08/15/97 WESTMORELAND TREES DOWN. SHED DESTROYED.
AWNINGS.
CORRECTED TO CHANGE WIDTH TO 100 YARDS AND 6 MINOR INJURIES VERSUS 2.
KANEThe office that day
Everything else NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 16, 8:14 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Indiana | 61 min |
| Aug 16, 8:24 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Allegheny, Armstrong | 66 min |
| Aug 16, 8:45 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Washington | 90 min |
| Aug 16, 8:48 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Beaver | 27 min |
| Aug 16, 9:15 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Fayette, Westmoreland | 2 hr |
| Aug 16, 9:28 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Greene | 2 hr |
| Aug 16, 9:34 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Allegheny | 26 min |
| Aug 17, 5:29 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Westmoreland | 61 min |
| Aug 16, 8:18 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Jefferson | 57 min |
| Aug 16, 9:03 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Belmont, Guernsey | 42 min |
| Aug 16, 9:03 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Muskingum | 42 min |
| Aug 16, 9:28 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Monroe, Noble | 2 hr |
| Aug 17, 6:05 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | PBZ | Belmont | 4 hr |
| Aug 17, 6:05 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | PBZ | Guernsey | 4 hr |
| Aug 16, 8:42 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Brooke | 33 min |
| Aug 16, 9:08 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Marshall, Ohio | 67 min |
| Aug 16, 10:07 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Wetzel | 68 min |
| Aug 16, 10:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Monongalia | 60 min |
| Aug 16, 10:52 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Preston | 98 min |
| Aug 16, 11:41 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Tucker | 64 min |
| Aug 17, 3:50 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Ohio | 25 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in West Virginia, 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.