Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 1, NWS Pittsburgh, PA
NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued this tornado warning at Aug 16, 1997, 5:18 PM EDT for Mercer County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 57 min. 5 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
- Aug 16, 1997, 5:18 PM EDT (21:18 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 16, 1997, 6:15 PM EDT
- In force
- 57 min
- Issued by
- NWS Pittsburgh, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Mercer County, PA
The radar
The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 86 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 16, 5:29 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Greenville, PA | Thunderstorm winds downed trees. |
| Aug 16, 5:43 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Greenville, PA | Thunderstorm winds downed trees. |
| Aug 16, 6:00 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Grove City, PA | Thunderstorm winds downed trees. |
| Aug 16, 6:04 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Greenville, PA | Thunderstorm winds downed trees. |
| Aug 16, 6:10 PM EDT | Hail 0.75 | Mercer, PA |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 16, 4:15 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 100 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
- 2423 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -12 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 591 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 17 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 111 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 99 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 2.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KPIT 162117 RRA TORPIT PAC085-162215- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH PA 518 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PITTSBURGH HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 615 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA ...MERCER COUNTY A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS REPORTED 5 MILES NORTHEAST OF GREENVILLE. THIS STORM IS MOVING EAST TOWARD THE CITIES OF HADLEY AND SHEAKLEYVILLE IN MERCER COUNTY. ANOTHER STORM IN EASTERN TRUMBULL COUNTY MOVING EAST COULD PRODUCE ADDITIONAL FUNNEL CLOUDS OR TORNADOES. A BRIEF TORNADO TOUCHDOWN WAS REPORTED NEAR JAMESTOWN ABOUT 505 PM. IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IfS A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT...GO TO AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS... OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOURSELF. AVOID WINDOWS. &
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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, Aug 16, 12:23 PM EDT, 4 hours 55 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA
1223 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 1997
TIME(EST) ....CITY LOCATION.... STATE...EVENT/REMARKS...
...COUNTY LOCATION...
1215 PM GREENVILLE PA WIND DAMAGE
08/16/97 MERCER TREES DOWN.Local storm report, Aug 16, 12:25 PM EDT, 4 hours 53 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA
1223 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 1997
TIME(EST) ....CITY LOCATION.... STATE...EVENT/REMARKS...
...COUNTY LOCATION...
1215 PM GREENVILLE PA WIND DAMAGE
08/16/97 MERCER TREES DOWN.Local storm report, Aug 16, 12:36 PM EDT, 4 hours 42 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA
1236 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 1997
TIME(EST) ....CITY LOCATION.... STATE...EVENT/REMARKS...
...COUNTY LOCATION...
1215 PM GREENVILLE PA WIND DAMAGE
08/16/97 MERCER TREES DOWN.
1230 PM COUNTY WIDE PA WIND DAMAGE
08/16/97 VENANGO TREES DOWN.Local storm report, Aug 16, 12:37 PM EDT, 4 hours 41 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PITTSBURGH, PA
1236 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 1997
TIME(EST) ....CITY LOCATION.... STATE...EVENT/REMARKS...
...COUNTY LOCATION...
1215 PM GREENVILLE L PA WIND DAMAGE
08/16/97 MERCER TREES DOWN.
1230 PM COUNTY WIDE PA WIND DAMAGE
08/16/97 VENANGO TREES DOWN.The office that day
Everything else NWS Pittsburgh, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 16, 3:23 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Beaver, Lawrence | 52 min |
| Aug 16, 3:41 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Butler | 49 min |
| Aug 16, 11:39 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Mercer | 66 min |
| Aug 16, 12:08 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Venango | 67 min |
| Aug 16, 12:10 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Lawrence | 65 min |
| Aug 16, 12:35 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Clarion | 55 min |
| Aug 16, 12:37 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Forest | 68 min |
| Aug 16, 12:40 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Butler | 65 min |
| Aug 16, 12:46 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Armstrong | 29 min |
| Aug 16, 12:48 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Jefferson | 57 min |
| Aug 16, 1:38 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Jefferson | 52 min |
| Aug 16, 5:03 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Mercer | 57 min |
| Aug 16, 5:46 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Venango | 59 min |
| Aug 16, 6:00 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | PBZ | Mercer | 60 min |
| Aug 16, 6:13 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | PBZ | Mercer | 4 hr |
| Aug 16, 6:32 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Butler, Venango | 58 min |
| Aug 16, 6:40 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Lawrence | 65 min |
| Aug 16, 7:03 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Mercer | 57 min |
| Aug 16, 7:03 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Armstrong | 57 min |
| Aug 16, 7:08 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Clarion, Jefferson | 67 min |
| Aug 16, 7:35 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Butler, Lawrence | 55 min |
| Aug 16, 7:42 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Beaver | 63 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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.