Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 49, NWS State College, PA

June 16, 1998Columbia County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this tornado warning at Jun 16, 1998, 6:42 PM EDT for Columbia 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 16, 1998, 6:42 PM EDT (22:42 UTC)
Expired
Jun 16, 1998, 7:30 PM EDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Columbia County, PA

The radar

The Binghamton radar (KBGM), 133 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:43 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 16, 7:10 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 51Benton, 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

Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD (KAPG), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 1998-06-16Temperature 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 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Phillips Aaf/Abe, MD at 12:00Z on 1998-06-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 48 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
1162 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
48 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
131 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCTP 162242 RRA
TORCTP
PAC037-162330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
642 PM EDT TUE JUN 16 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN COLUMBIA COUNTY IN CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA

* UNTIL 730 PM EDT

* AT 640 PM EDT...STATE COLLEGE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONGLY
  ROTATING THUNDERSTORM...CONTAINING A POSSIBLE TORNADO...13
  MILES SOUTHWEST OF LAPORTE OR 7 MILES   WEST OF TALMAR MOVING EAST
  AT 15 MPH.

* THE POSSIBLE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  TALMAR AT 705 PM EDT
  DERRS AT 710 PM EDT
  CENTRAL AT 720 PM EDT
  GRASSMERE AT 720 PM EDT

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

OSTUNO/LAMBERT

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 16, 4:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPSomerset57 min
Jun 16, 5:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCambria58 min
Jun 16, 5:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPBlair, Clearfield60 min
Jun 16, 5:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPBedford60 min
Jun 16, 6:08 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPAdams, Franklin72 min
Jun 16, 6:08 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPFulton, Huntingdon72 min
Jun 16, 6:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLycoming66 min
Jun 16, 6:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLycoming60 min
Jun 16, 6:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCumberland, Perry79 min
Jun 16, 6:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPCentre, Mifflin79 min
Jun 16, 6:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPJuniata79 min
Jun 16, 6:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPLancaster, York77 min
Jun 16, 6:47 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPClearfield48 min
Jun 16, 7:23 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPNorthumberland, Snyder, Union77 min
Jun 16, 7:23 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPDauphin, Lebanon77 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.