Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1999

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 201, NWS State College, PA

October 13, 1999Elk County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 13, 1999, 6:42 PM EDT for Elk County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 33 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: Oct 13, 1999, 6:42 PM EDT (22:42 UTC)
Expired: Oct 13, 1999, 7:15 PM EDT
In force: 33 min
Issued by: NWS State College, PA
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Elk County, PA

The radar

The State College radar (KCCX), 78 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:41 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
Oct 13, 7:05 PM EDT	Hail 1.75	Ridgway, PA	Golf ball sized hail fell in Ridgway.

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 12:00Z, 10.7 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-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: 216 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -269 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 757 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 300 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 302 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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 Oct 13, 3:15 PM EDT, 3 hours 27 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 13, 3:15 PM EDT, 3 hours 27 minutes before

CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
315 PM EDT WED OCT 13 1999

HARDLY ANYTHING IN THE WAY OF SCT CONVECTION AHEAD OF LINE AS OF
YET...BUT VIS SAT LOOP SHOWS HORIZONTAL ROLLS ACROSS W PA...AND SOME
SCT SHRA/-TSRA MAY YET POP UP HERE B4 SUNSET. COMPOSITE RADAR LOOP
SHOWS LINE OF CONVECTION FILLING IN AS IT CROSSES LAKE ERIE. LOOKING
FURTHER UPSTREAM...I SEE SFC WINDS BEHIND COLD FRONT DO NOT LOOK TOO
IMPRESSIVE...WITH STRONGEST WINDS IN WAA AHEAD OF FRONT.

CONVECTION WILL BE MAIN THREAT TO PRODUCE STRONG WINDS THIS AFT/EVE.
BIGGEST THREAT WILL BE ACROSS NW CTP CWA LATE AFT/ERLY EVE AS LINE
MOVES THRU. THIS EVENT MAY HAVE AN ANOLOG WITH 30 SEPT 1999...WHERE
NARROW STRIPE OF CONVECTION BROUGHT WIDESPREAD WIND EVENT TO CWA.
850 MB WINDS SIMILAR IN BOTH CASES. SO TO COVER THE POTENTIAL THIS
TIME...HAVE HOISTED HI WIND WATCH FOR ENTIRE CWA. I THINK THE BEST
CHC WILL BE ACROSS N TIER WHERE DYNAMICS MOST FAVORABLE FOR
MAINTENANCE OF LINE AFTER SUN GOES DOWN.

RAIN TAPERING TO SHOWERS OVERNIGHT...AND I AGREE WITH BGM THINKING
ON CHC POPS NE PA ON THU MORNING.

EXTENDED...UKMET...EURO...AND MRF ALL TAKING TROPICAL MOISTURE FROM
IRENE UP THE EAST COAST AHEAD OF SHARPLY AMPLIFYNG CENTRAL US TROF.
MONDAY LOOKING PRETTY WET...ESP E PA.

.CTP...HIGH WIND WATCH ALL ZONES.

OSTUNO

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Oct 13, 3:49 PM EDT, 2 hours 53 minutes before

PAZ004-005-010-140200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
349 PM EDT WED OCT 13 1999

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED MUCH OF FAR WESTERN
PENNSYLVANIA...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
VALID UNTIL 10 PM EDT FOR FAR WESTERN PARTS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
THE WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN OF WEST CENTRAL
PENNSYLVANIA...

WARREN...MCKEAN...AND ELK.

AN AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL CROSS EASTERN OHIO LATE THIS
AFTERNOON AND REACH WARREN...ELK AND MCKEAN COUNTIES AROUND SUNSET.
THE STORMS ARE MOVING QUITE RAPIDLY...AND THE GREATEST THREAT IS FROM
STRONG DAMAGING WINDS AS THEY REACH OUR AREA.

IF YOU ARE IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR THE POTENTIAL OF
SEVERE WEATHER LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING. STAY TUNED
TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...THE OFFICIAL VOICE OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE...OR YOUR FAVORITE TELEVISION OR COMMERCIAL RADIO NEWS
SOURCE FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND FORECASTS.

.END/ DANGELO

ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB AT:

HTTP://BOOKEND.MET.PSU.EDU (ALL LOWER CASE)

Special weather statement, Oct 13, 3:49 PM EDT, 2 hours 53 minutes before

PAZ004-005-010-140200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
349 PM EDT WED OCT 13 1999

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED MUCH OF FAR WESTERN
PENNSYLVANIA...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
VALID UNTIL 10 PM EDT FOR FAR WESTERN PARTS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
THE WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN OF WEST CENTRAL
PENNSYLVANIA...

WARREN...MCKEAN...AND ELK.

AN AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL CROSS EASTERN OHIO LATE THIS
AFTERNOON AND REACH WARREN...ELK AND MCKEAN COUNTIES AROUND SUNSET.
THE STORMS ARE MOVING QUITE RAPIDLY...AND THE GREATEST THREAT IS FROM
STRONG DAMAGING WINDS AS THEY REACH OUR AREA.

IF YOU ARE IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR THE POTENTIAL OF
SEVERE WEATHER LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING. STAY TUNED
TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...THE OFFICIAL VOICE OF THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE...OR YOUR FAVORITE TELEVISION OR COMMERCIAL RADIO NEWS
SOURCE FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND FORECASTS.

.END/ DANGELO

ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION CAN BE FOUND ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB AT:

HTTP://BOOKEND.MET.PSU.EDU (ALL LOWER CASE)

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 13, 6:18 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Warren	72 min
Oct 13, 6:19 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	McKean	41 min
Oct 13, 7:05 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Elk, McKean	55 min
Oct 13, 7:14 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Cameron	61 min
Oct 13, 7:20 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	CTP	Cameron	25 min
Oct 13, 7:29 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Potter	61 min
Oct 13, 7:42 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	CTP	Potter	33 min
Oct 13, 7:52 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CTP	Clearfield	53 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1999 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1999

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.