Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 39, NWS State College, PA

June 2, 1998Elk County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this tornado warning at Jun 2, 1998, 7:50 PM EDT for Elk County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 65 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 2, 1998, 7:50 PM EDT (23:50 UTC)
Expired
Jun 2, 1998, 8:55 PM EDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Elk County, PA

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 2, 8:30 PM EDTHail 0.75St Marys, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jun 2, 4:15 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Pittsburgh, PA (KPIT), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 166 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 1998-06-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 158 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1998-06-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 224 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
158 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-77 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1288 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
224 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
261 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

891 
WFUS01 KCTP 022349 RRA
TORCTP
PAC047-030055-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
750 PM EDT TUE JUN 2 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  ELK COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 855 PM EDT

* AT 749 PM EDT... STATE COLLEGE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO
  5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF RIDGWAY MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  RIDGWAY                         BY 750 PM EDT
  DAGUSCAHONDA                    BY 755 PM EDT
  JOHNSONBURG                     BY 755 PM EDT
  ST MARYS                        BY 805 PM EDT

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR

MSE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 2, 4:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPWarren66 min
Jun 2, 4:46 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPDauphin, Northumberland64 min
Jun 2, 4:46 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPSnyder64 min
Jun 2, 5:01 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPUnion59 min
Jun 2, 5:07 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPSchuylkill93 min
Jun 2, 5:10 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPMcKean, Warren95 min
Jun 2, 5:13 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPColumbia, Montour62 min
Jun 2, 5:25 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPCumberland, Dauphin, York45 min
Jun 2, 5:30 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPSullivan60 min
Jun 2, 5:55 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPPotter75 min
Jun 2, 6:00 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPClearfield, Elk75 min
Jun 2, 6:15 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPAdams, Cumberland, York75 min
Jun 2, 6:17 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPLebanon33 min
Jun 2, 6:32 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPDauphin, Northumberland, Schuylkill78 min
Jun 2, 6:39 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPTioga91 min
Jun 2, 6:42 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPSomerset88 min
Jun 2, 7:01 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPClearfield64 min
Jun 2, 7:05 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPBlair, Cambria65 min
Jun 2, 7:23 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPCentre62 min
Jun 2, 7:27 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPBedford78 min
Jun 2, 7:30 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPLancaster, York35 min
Jun 2, 7:33 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPPotter62 min
Jun 2, 7:36 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPTioga94 min
Jun 2, 7:45 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPHuntingdon80 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes 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.