Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 77, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

July 28, 1997Greene County, Washington County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 28, 1997, 1:26 PM EDT for Greene County, Washington County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 64 min. 3 reports 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 28, 1997, 1:26 PM EDT (17:26 UTC)
Expired: Jul 28, 1997, 2:30 PM EDT
In force: 64 min
Issued by: NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area: Whole counties

Counties Greene County, PA, Washington County, PA

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 57 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:27 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 28, 2:00 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Waynesburg, PA	Thunderstorm winds downed a tree on the south edge of Waynesburg.
Jul 28, 2:00 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Scenery Hill, PA	Trees were downed across Route 40. Other trees were also downed in the western and central parts of the county.
Jul 28, 2:15 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Richeyville, PA	Thunderstorm winds toppled a large branch of an oak tree onto a mobile home, causing considerable structural damage to the home.

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, 5.4 hours before the alert went out and 45 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 448 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -84 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 813 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 70 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 84 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.

000 
TTAA00 KPIT 281723 RRA
SVRPIT
PAC059-125-281830-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
126 PM EDT MON JUL 28 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 230 PM EDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN WEST PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...GREENE COUNTY...WASHINGTON COUNTY
 
AT 120 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
MOVING INTO THE WESTERN PARTS OF WASHINGTON AND GREENE COUNTIES IN
SOUTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA. WIDESPREAD WIND DAMAGE IS POSSIBLE AS THESE
STORMS SWEEP ACROSS THE COUNTY.
 
TAKE SHELTER INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.
DON'T USE TELEPHONES OR APPLIANCES UNLESS IT'S AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE
STORM HAS PASSED.  DO NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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, Jul 28, 12:03 PM EDT, 1 hour 23 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA
1203 PM EDT MON JUL 28 1997

TIME(EST)  ....CITY LOCATION....     STATE...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ...COUNTY LOCATION...
1150 AM     COSHOCTON                OH    WIND DAMAGE
07/28/97    COSHOCTON                      TREE LIMBS DOWN

Local storm report, Jul 28, 12:04 PM EDT, 1 hour 22 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA
1203 PM EDT MON JUL 28 1997

TIME(EST)  ....CITY LOCATION....     STATE...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ...COUNTY LOCATION...
1150 AM     COSHOCTON

Local storm report, Jul 28, 1:00 PM EDT, 26 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA
100 PM EDT MON JUL 28 1997

TIME(EST)  ....CITY LOCATION....     STATE...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ...COUNTY LOCATION...
1150 AM     COSHOCTON                OH    WIND DAMAGE
07/28/97    COSHOCTON                      TREE LIMBS DOWN

1249 PM     BARNESVILLE              OH    WIND DAMAGE
07/28/97    BELMONT                        BARN BLOWN DOWN

Local storm report, Jul 28, 1:01 PM EDT, 25 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA
100 PM EDT MON JUL 28 1997

TIME(EST)  ....CITY LOCATION....     STATE...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ...COUNTY LOCATION...
1150 AM     COSHOCTON                OH    WIND DAMAGE
07/28/97    COSHOCTON                      TREE LIMBS DOWN

1249 PM     BARNESVILLE              OH    WIND DAMAGE
07/28/97    BELMONT                        BARN BLOWN DOWN

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 28, 1:58 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Fayette	62 min
Jul 28, 2:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Allegheny	49 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1997 Every 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.