Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 111, NWS State College, PA
NWS State College, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 19, 1998, 2:47 AM EDT for Somerset County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 48 min. 1 report 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
- Jun 19, 1998, 2:47 AM EDT (06:47 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 19, 1998, 3:35 AM EDT
- In force
- 48 min
- Issued by
- NWS State College, PA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Somerset County, PA
The radar
The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 119 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:50 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 19, 3:15 AM EDT | Hail 0.88 | Bakersville, 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 nearest sounding before it
Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 00:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 103 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
- 261 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -158 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1510 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 40 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 57 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 150 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
799 WUUS01 KCTP 190648 RRA SVRCTP PAC111-190735- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 247 AM EDT FRI JUN 19 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... SOMERSET COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA * UNTIL 335 AM EDT * AT 245 AM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER CONFLUENCE...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... ADDISON SPRINGS 300 AM EDT MOUNT DAVIS 310 AM EDT DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE LIKELY. GO INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS HEAD
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.
NWS State College, PA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jun 19, 2:30 AM EDT, 17 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 19, 2:30 AM EDT, 17 minutes before
CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA 230 AM EDT FRI JUN 19 1998 ...WRKZONES WILL BE SENT TO PHL AND PIT VIA ADMCTP...HOPEFULLY BEFORE 3 AM... ...DISCUSSION... TOUGH TO WORD FORECAST TODAY AS TIMING AND PLACEMENT OF CONVECTION WILL BE PROBLEM. ALREADY SOME ACTIVITY FIRING ALONG LEADING EDGE OF BAROCLINIC ZONE WHERE STABILITY IS SLOWLY ERODING. MESO DATA INDICATES STRONG LI GRADIENT SET UP OVER SW PA WITH -2 TO -5 FROM LAURELS TO OHIO BORDER. LAPS AND PSU MESO ANALS SHOW VIRTUALLY NO THETA-E ADVECTION ONE WAY OR ANOTHER WITH LITTLE OR NO CAPE/LI CHANGE IN TIME. THERE IS SOME INDICATION OF WEAK MOISTURE CONVERGENCE STRETCHING FROM SE TO NW ACROSS WRN PA WHICH HELPS EXPLAIN DEVELOPING CONVECTION. ETA SHOWS NW FLOW BREAKING DOWN THRU THE MORNING HOURS AS UPPER RIDGE FLATTENS AND MOVES EAST. THE ASSOC BAROCLINIC ZONE WEAKENS AS WELL WHICH WILL ONLY MAKE TIMING AND PLACEMENT OF DEVELOPING CONVECTION MORE DIFFICULT. FIRST IMPRESSION IS TO BE A TAD MORE PESSIMISTIC MOST OF MY CWA TODAY. FIRST BATCHES OF RW/TRW SHOULD PROBABLY FIZZLE AS LI GRAD WEAKENS IN TIME AND LOW LEVEL FLOW BECOMES MORE WESTERLY. THEN PM HOURS PROB SEE MORE DIURNALLY DRIVEN PRECIP DEVELOP AS HUMID AIR MAKES RETURN OVER MOST OF REGION. ORIENTATION OF RH FIELDS AND UPPER FLOW SUGGEST WORST WX OVER SW PA TAPERING TO BEST WX OVER NE PA. TONIGHT LOOKS MORE INTERESTING THAN MODEL OUTPUT SEEMS TO SUGGEST. FLOW ALOFT GOES WESTERLY WITH ETA PAINTING A COUPLED UPPER JET SETUP SLIDING ACROSS. MODELS STILL SHOW FAIRLY UNSTABLE AIR THRU 06Z WITH NICE LOW LEVEL THETA-E RIDGE POKING NORTHWARD INTO REGION. WHILE VORTICITY ADVECTIONS LOOK WEAK...DECENT LOBE OF HIGH PV AIR IS MADE TO OOZE ACROSS DURING THE OVERNIGHT. BIGGEST FEATURE PROBABLY DRIVING MODEL TENDENCIES TO DRY THINGS OUT IS SHOT OF LOW LEVEL COOL THETA-E ADVECTION. CURRENT WORDING PAINTBRUSHES POPS OVERNIGHT. WILL PROB TRY AND FINE TUNE A BIT TO EMPHASIZE LATTER HALF OF OVERNIGHT BEING WORSE THAN FIRST HALF. LA CORTE
The office that day
Everything else NWS State College, PA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 19, 6:32 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Somerset | 5 hr |
| Jun 19, 6:41 AM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | CTP | Bedford | 5 hr |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1998Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1998
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.