Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 86, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

August 12, 1997Washington County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 12, 1997, 8:39 PM EDT for Washington County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 36 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 12, 1997, 8:39 PM EDT (00:39 UTC)
Expired
Aug 12, 1997, 9:15 PM EDT
In force
36 min
Issued by
NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Washington County, PA

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 38 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:42 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 00:00Z, 0.7 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Pittsburgh, PA at 00:00Z on 1997-08-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 690 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1997-08-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 8 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
690 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1311 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
56 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KPIT 130038 RRA
SVRPIT
PAC125-130115-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
839 PM EDT TUE AUG 12 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  915 PM EDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...WASHINGTON COUNTY
 
AT 830 PM THE PITTSBURGH NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER EXTREME NORTHERN WASHINGTON COUNTY NEAR
BURGETTSTOWN. THE MAIN THREAT FROM THIS STORM IS DAMAGING WINDS.
 
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.
 
PM

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 12, 8:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZAllegheny50 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.