Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 91, NWS Pittsburgh, PA

August 15, 1997Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania

NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 15, 1997, 6:30 PM EDT for Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 30 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 15, 1997, 6:30 PM EDT (22:30 UTC)
Expired
Aug 15, 1997, 7:00 PM EDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Pittsburgh, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Westmoreland County, PA

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 68 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:30 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 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 55 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 1997-08-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1997-08-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 135 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1167 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
135 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
161 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 152229 RRA
SVRPIT
PAC129-152300-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA
630 PM EDT FRI AUG 15 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  700 PM EDT
FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST PENNSYLVANIA
 
   ...WESTMORELAND COUNTY
 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR HAS DETECTED A SEVERE STORM NEAR NEW
FLORENCE. THIS STORM HAS HAD A HISTORY OF DAMAGE AND SHOULD BE
CONSIDERED A DANGEROUS STORM. THE STORM WILL PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS IN
AND AROUND LAUREL RIDGE.
 
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.
 
 
 
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 15, 5:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPBZWashington52 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.