Alert archive / Ohio / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 3, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

May 3, 1997Muskingum County, Ohio

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 3, 1997, 2:31 PM EDT for Muskingum County, Ohio. It was in force for 44 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, 2:31 PM EDT (18:31 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 1997, 3:15 PM EDT
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Muskingum County, OH

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 3, 2:35 PM EDTThunderstorm WindZanesville, OHThunderstorm winds downed some small trees and large branches, some onto power lines, 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, 6.5 hours before the alert went out and 164 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 1997-05-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 12 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 1997-05-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 478 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

700 
WUUS1 KPIT 031831 RRA
SVRPIT
OHC119-031915-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
231 PM EDT SAT MAY 3 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  315 PM EDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL OHIO
 
   ...MUSKINGUM COUNTY
 
AT 230 PM WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING
EAST AT 40 MPH THROUGH THE ZANESVILLE AREA. WIND GUSTS OVER 60 MPH CAN
OCCUR WITH THESE STORMS. THERE ALSO CAN BE HAIL UP TO 1 INCH IN SIZE.
 
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR BUILDING.

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, 3 hours 21 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
Local storm report, May 3, 2:22 PM EDT, 9 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE PITTSBURGH PA
230 PM EDT THU MAY 03 1997

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

127 PM     SHARON                   PA    .75 INCH HAIL
05/03/97   MERCER                         AMATEUR RADIO/SKYWARN

145 PM     FREDONIA                 PA    .75 INCH HAIL
05/03/97   MERCER                         SKYWARN

GIORDANO/MURPHY
&
Local storm report, May 3, 2:25 PM EDT, 6 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE PITTSBURGH PA
230 PM EDT SAT MAY 03 1997

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

127 PM     SHARON                   PA    .75 INCH HAIL
05/03/97   MERCER                         AMATEUR RADIO/SKYWARN

145 PM     FREDONIA                 PA    .75 INCH HAIL
05/03/97   MERCER                         SKYWARN

GIORDANO/MURPHY
0
Local storm report, May 3, 2:30 PM EDT, 1 minute before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE PITTSBURGH PA
230 PM EDT SAT MAY 03 1997

TIME(EST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

127 PM     SHARON                   PA    .75 INCH HAIL
05/03/97   MERCER                         AMATEUR RADIO/SKYWARN

145 PM     FREDONIA                 PA    .75 INCH HAIL
05/03/97   MERCER                         SKYWARN

GIORDANO/MURPHY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 3, 3:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZColumbiana, Jefferson41 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Ohio, 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.