Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 2, NWS State College, PA

July 1, 1999Sullivan County, Pennsylvania

NWS State College, PA issued this tornado warning at Jul 1, 1999, 6:50 PM EDT for Sullivan County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 55 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
Jul 1, 1999, 6:50 PM EDT (22:50 UTC)
Expired
Jul 1, 1999, 7:45 PM EDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS State College, PA
Area
Whole counties

County Sullivan County, PA

The radar

The Binghamton radar (KBGM), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:51 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
Jul 1, 7:30 PM EDTTornado F1Hugos Corners, PAAn F1 tornado touched down in Elkland township about two miles northwest of Lincoln Falls on route 154, then moved northeast through a crossroads near Eldredsville to Hugo corners. Trees were blown down as the storm crossed route 154. Just west of McCarty Ri

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, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 222 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 1999-07-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 82 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 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 1999-07-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 56 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
82 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-53 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
585 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
56 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
78 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.

786 
WFUS01 KCTP 012254 RRA
TORCTP
PAC113-012345-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE STATE COLLEGE PA
650 PM EDT THU JUL 1 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN STATE COLLEGE PA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN SULLIVAN COUNTY.

* UNTIL 745 PM EDT.

* AT 647 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO IN NORTHERN LYCOMING
  COUNTY OR 15 MILES WEST OF FORKSVILLE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  SHUNK AND WHEELERVILLE AT 725 PM EDT.
  FORKSVILLE AT 730 PM EDT.

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

IF YOU ARE IN A MOBILE HOME...ABANDON IT AND GO TO A NEARBY STURDY
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...LIE FLAT IN A DITCH AND COVER YOUR HEAD

.END/DANGELO

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 1, 5:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPBedford46 min
Jul 1, 5:39 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPFulton51 min
Jul 1, 6:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCTPFranklin55 min
Jul 1, 6:33 PM EDTTornado WarningCTPLycoming37 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Pennsylvania, 1999Every tornado warning in 1999Tornadoes 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.