Alert archive / West Virginia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 49, NWS Pittsburgh, PA
NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 9, 1997, 1:35 PM EDT for Preston County, Tucker County, West Virginia. It was in force for 55 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 9, 1997, 1:35 PM EDT (17:35 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 9, 1997, 2:30 PM EDT
- In force
- 55 min
- Issued by
- NWS Pittsburgh, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Preston County, WV, Tucker County, WV
The radar
The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 147 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:37 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 9, 2:05 PM EDT | Hail 0.75 | Kingwood, WV |
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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 9, 12:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 5.6 hours before the alert went out and 131 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
- 26 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -199 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1039 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 40 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -45 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 19 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 091734 RRA SVRPIT WVC077-093-091830- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 135 PM EDT WED JUL 9 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 230 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN NORTH WEST VIRGINIA ...PRESTON COUNTY...TUCKER COUNTY AT 130 PM PITTSBURGH DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM MOVING INTO SOUTHERN PRESTON COUNTY AND NORTHERN TUCKER COUNTY. THE STORM IS MOVING EAST AT 35 TO 40 MPH AND WILL PASS NEAR FELL SIN PRESTON COUNTY AND ST GEORGE IN TUCKER COUNTY. THIS STORM HAS A HISTO DAMAGING WINDS IN RITCHIE COUNTY AND IS PRODUCING LARGE HAIL. IF CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A STRONG BUILDING. DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. 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, Jul 9, 12:02 PM EDT, 1 hour 33 minutes before
PAZ007>009-013>016-020>023-029>032-WVZ001>004-012-021>023-041-MDZ001- OHZ039>041-O48>050-057>059-068-069-092300- SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA NOON EDT WED JUL 9 1997 THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS SOUTH AND EAST OF PITTSBURGH THIS AFTERNOON. LITTLE RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED NORTH OR WEST OF PITTSBURGH. A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS PENNSYLVANIA...WEST VIRGINIA... AND MARYLAND THIS AFTERNOON. THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE FRONT WILL STRENGTHEN AS THEY MOVE EAST INTO THE WARMER MORE UNSTABLE AIR OVER THE MID ATLANTIC REGION. THE GREATEST THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN THE PITTSBURGH COUNTY WARNING AREA WILL BE OVER NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA AND FAR WESTERN MARYLAND...GENERALLY SOUTH AND EAST OF MORGANTOWN. DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL MAY ACCOMPANY THESE STORMS. RAINFALL OF BETWEEN ONE AND TWO INCHES IS ALSO POSSIBLE IN A VERY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME. TO THE NORTH AND WEST OF PITTSBURGH...MERCER PENNSYLVANIA TO ZANESVILLE OHIO...THE PASSAGE OF THE COLD FRONT WILL RESULT IN COOLER TEMPERATURES AND A MORE STABLE ATMOSPHERE. THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN THIS AREA IS NOT LIKELY. PLEASE STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FUTURE UPDATES. WEATHER WATCHES AND WARNINGS MAY BE NEEDED. SKYWARN ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED FOR NORTHERN WEST VIRGINIA...WESTERN MARYLAND...AND CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA. PM/RWH
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.