Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Pittsburgh, PA
NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 3, 1997, 1:57 PM EDT for Washington County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 63 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
- May 3, 1997, 1:57 PM EDT (17:57 UTC)
- Expired
- May 3, 1997, 3:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 63 min
- Issued by
- NWS Pittsburgh, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Washington County, PA
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 2:15 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Washington, PA | Numerous trees and power lines were downed by thunderstorm winds throughout the county. |
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, 6.0 hours before the alert went out and 28 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
- 12 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -73 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 579 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 66 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 478 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 446 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 KPIT 031757 RRA SVRPIT PAC125-031900- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 157 PM EDT SAT MAY 3 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 300 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN WEST PENNSYLVANIA ...WASHINGTON COUNTY AT 155 PM WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER WESTERN WASHINGTON COUNTY PA MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. THIS STORM WILL HAVE MOVED THROUGH THE CITY OF WASHINGTON BY 215 OR 225 PM AND CANONSBURG BY 220 TO 235 PM. THIS STORM HAS HAD A HISTORY OF STRONG WIND GUSTS AND HAIL. WIND GUSTS OVER 60 MPH CAN CAUSE DAMAGE AND HAIL SIZES CAN RANGE UP TO 1 INCH. IF CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A STRONG BUILDING. DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...BRIEFLY HEAVY RAIN...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING CAN OCCUR. STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.
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
Special weather statement, May 3, 11:10 AM EDT, 2 hours 47 minutes before
PAZ007>009-013>016-020>023-029>032-WVZ001>004-012-021>023-041-MDZ001- OHZ039>041-O48>050-057>059-068-069-041200- SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 1110 AM EDT SAT MAY 3 1997 ...THUNDERSTORMS WITH STRONG WIND GUSTS AND POSSIBLY HAIL THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS THESE FOLLOWING AREAS.. EAST CENTRAL OHIO... WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA... EXTREME NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA... EXTREME WESTERN MARYLAND. ...HAZARD SPECIFICS... BEWARE OF RAPIDLY MOVING THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON THAT CAN GENERATE WIND GUSTS OVER 50 MPH AND SOME HAIL. THE WIND GUSTS MAY GET HIGH ENOUGH TO CAUSE DAMAGE. THE HAIL SHOULD BE LIMITED IN SIZE BUT THE POSSIBILITY OF SMALL HAILSTONES COVERING THE GROUND TO A DEPTH OF AN INCH OR SO CANNOT BE RULED OUT. REGARDING RAINFALL...ANY DOWNPOURS SHOULD BE BE BRIEF. REGARDING LIGHTNING...THERE CAN BE CLOUD TO GROUND STROKES...WHICH OF COURSE ARE ALWAYS DANGEROUS. BUT THESE STROKES SHOULD NOT BE FREQUENT. ...HAZARD TIMING... THE PERIOD FOR THE MOST HEIGHTENED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WEATHER AWARENESS ARE AS FOLLOWS... IN EAST CENTRAL OHIO...EARLY THIS AFTERNOON...TIL AROUND 3 OR 4 PM. IN FAR WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA AND NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA AND WESTERN MARYLAND...ALL AFTERNOON TIL AROUND 6 TO 7 PM. THE FOCUS OF THE STRONGEST STORMS WILL BE WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE COLD FRONT AND FOR UP TO ABOUT 3 HOURS AFTERWARDS AS COLD AIR ARRIVES ALOFT TO INCREASE THE ATMOSPHERES INSTABILITY. THE TIMES OF FRONTAL PASSAGE WILL BE AS FOLLOWS... ZANESVILLE OH....AROUND 11 AM. WHEELING WV AROUND 12 NOON FRANKLIN PA...PITTSBURGH PA AND MORGANTOWN...AROUND 1 PM. BROOKVILLE PA...LATROBE PA AND CONNELLSVILLE PA...AROUND 2 PM. DEEP CREEK LAKE MD...AROUND 3 PM. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR UPDATES FROM YOUR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. ...SKYWARN... SKYWARN OBSERVERS...CALL IN REPORTS OF DAMAGE AND SIGNIFICANT WIND GUSTS AND HAIL AS NEEDED. GIORDANO/MURPHY
The office that day
Everything else NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 1:23 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Mercer | 67 min |
| May 3, 3:15 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Beaver | 45 min |
| May 3, 3:24 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Washington | 51 min |
| May 3, 3:26 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Lawrence | 49 min |
| May 3, 3:29 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Mercer | 46 min |
| May 3, 3:36 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Allegheny, Butler | 54 min |
| May 3, 3:45 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Fayette | 30 min |
| May 3, 4:07 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Armstrong, Westmoreland | 68 min |
| May 3, 4:37 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Venango | 53 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.