Alert archive / Pennsylvania / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Cleveland, OH

April 15, 2002Crawford County, Pennsylvania

NWS Cleveland, OH issued this tornado warning at Apr 15, 2002, 5:42 PM EDT for Crawford County, Pennsylvania. It was in force for 48 min. 4 reports 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
Apr 15, 2002, 5:42 PM EDT (21:42 UTC)
Expired
Apr 15, 2002, 6:30 PM EDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Cleveland, OH
Area
Whole counties

County Crawford County, PA

The radar

The Pittsburgh radar (KPBZ), 129 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:45 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
Apr 15, 5:48 PM EDTHail 1Meadville, PAQuarter size hail was reported three miles north of Meadville.
Apr 15, 6:10 PM EDTThunderstorm WindSaegertown, PAThunderstorm winds downed several trees.
Apr 15, 6:15 PM EDTHail 1Meadville, PAQuarter size hail was reported.
Apr 15, 6:28 PM EDTHail 1Meadville, PAQuarter size hail was reported eight miles east of Meadville.

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, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 142 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 2002-04-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 67 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, Pittsburgh, PA at 12:00Z on 2002-04-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 192 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
67 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-30 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
620 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
192 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
243 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.

000 
WFUS51 KCLE 152142
TORCLE
PAC039-152230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
542 PM EDT MON APR 15 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CRAWFORD COUNTY IN PENNSYLVANIA...

* UNTIL 630 PM EDT

* AT 542 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 4 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS...OR ABOUT 8 MILES NORTH OF
  MEADVILLE...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...
  CAMBRIDGE SPRINGS
  MEADVILLE

THIS WARNING REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING PREVIOUSLY
ISSUED FOR THE WARNED AREA.

$$
ADAMS

The office that day

Everything else NWS Cleveland, OH issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 15, 5:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLECrawford, Erie63 min
Apr 15, 6:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCLECrawford30 min
Apr 15, 6:32 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCLECrawford118 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Pennsylvania, 2002Every tornado warning in 2002Tornadoes in 2002

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.