Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 249

May 3, 199722 counties in New York; 36 counties in Pennsylvania

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 3, 1997, 1:30 PM EDT for 22 counties in New York; 36 counties in Pennsylvania. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 3, 1997, 1:30 PM EDT (17:30 UTC)
Expired: May 3, 1997, 8:00 PM EDT
In force: 7 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 58 counties

Allegany County, NY, Broome County, NY, Cattaraugus County, NY, Cayuga County, NY, Chemung County, NY, Chenango County, NY, Cortland County, NY, Genesee County, NY, Livingston County, NY, Madison County, NY, Monroe County, NY, Oneida County, NY, Onondaga County, NY, Ontario County, NY, Schuyler County, NY, Seneca County, NY, Steuben County, NY, Tioga County, NY, Tompkins County, NY, Wayne County, NY, Wyoming County, NY, Yates County, NY, Adams County, PA, Armstrong County, PA, Bedford County, PA, Blair County, PA, Bradford County, PA, Cambria County, PA, Cameron County, PA, Centre County, PA, Clarion County, PA, Clearfield County, PA, Clinton County, PA, Columbia County, PA, Cumberland County, PA, Dauphin County, PA, Elk County, PA, Fayette County, PA, Forest County, PA, Franklin County, PA, Fulton County, PA, Huntingdon County, PA, Indiana County, PA, Jefferson County, PA, Juniata County, PA, Lycoming County, PA, McKean County, PA, Mifflin County, PA, Montour County, PA, Northumberland County, PA, Perry County, PA, Potter County, PA, Snyder County, PA, Somerset County, PA, Sullivan County, PA, Tioga County, PA, Union County, PA, Westmoreland County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 29 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:45 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.

Warnings issued inside it

12 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 3, 1:57 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Lycoming	63 min
May 3, 3:45 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Fayette	30 min
May 3, 3:46 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Adams, Cumberland, York	59 min
May 3, 3:50 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Clearfield	55 min
May 3, 3:58 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Bedford, Blair, Cambria	62 min
May 3, 4:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Juniata, Northumberland, Perry, Snyder	60 min
May 3, 4:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Dauphin	60 min
May 3, 4:07 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PBZ	Armstrong, Westmoreland	68 min
May 3, 4:19 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Columbia	56 min
May 3, 4:24 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Centre, Clinton, Huntingdon	66 min
May 3, 4:34 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Potter, Tioga	56 min
May 3, 4:41 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Lycoming	64 min

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 5.5 hours before the alert went out and 177 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: 12 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -73 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 579 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 478 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 446 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.

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SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 3, 4:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Dutchess, Orange, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster	6 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Pennsylvania, 1997 Severe Thunderstorm Watches in New York, 1997 Every severe thunderstorm watch 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.